Please
by Lex Lexa
Summary: Matt is leaving on another mission to space and he asks Tai to watch over Sora while he's away.
1. Chapter 1

"_Please Tai_" his voice tinged with pain.

Tai nodded, though they were talking through video chat, he could see his friend was struggling. "Of course you can count on me, Matt" he replied sincerely.

Matt sighed with relief, "Thank you. I'm sorry to burden you, I know you've got your own family and work must be hectic for you too"

"Don't worry about my dumb job, I'll keep an eye on her" he grinned.

Matt grimaced, "Stop trying to make me feel better." he paused "Anyway I'm not asking you to be at her beck and call, I just really worry about Sora coping with both the kids and being pregnant, you know she won't ask for help herself"

Tai rolled his eyes, "Yep that's our Sora, taking care of everyone but herself"

"Yup."

"Anyway when are you guys going to stop having kids? And why now you guys knew you were going to be in Space, talk about family planning!" Tai exclaimed, being a father himself he couldn't imagine a more stressful situation, one was enough for him and Meiko for the time being. Matt and Sora seemed to have left having children a little bit later in life than the rest of the Digidestined but now they seemed to be making up for lost time.

"Hey man, there was no planning about it, it just... happened this time!" Matt said refusing to make eye contact with his friend, uncomfortable with the subject matter.

"Oh jeez" Tai grimaced, "that was way too much information!"

Matt's face quickly turned to a bright shade of red, "You asked!" He belted out, embarrassed.

"And I totally regret it!" Tai yelled back. The pair had never stopped their old ways of getting into spats. "Anyway, when are you back?" His face turned serious once more.

"Five months' time, not long before the baby is due."

Tai looked pensive, "Well that's something at least."

"And I promised Sora this would be my last time away so please don't make me feel like a bad guy..." the blonde haired astronaut looked wracked with guilt.

"Everything will be fine; I'll look out for her okay?" Tai reassured his best friend. He understood the reasons why Matt had asked him, not only because Tai was a close friend of both of theirs but he was one of the few Digidestined that still resided in Odaiba just like them. Just like they had growing up, they lived in a block of apartments on the island along with Mimi and Izzy. It would be easy to watch over Sora as they would see each other most days as their own kids were close with each other too.

...

It was a hot Saturday afternoon and a few of the Digidestined were gathered at the local Kindergarten for their children's culture festival. Tai, Izzy, Meiko, Sora and Mimi's children all attended the same Kindergarten. It had been a week or so since Matt left for his mission.

Tai, Izzy and Mimi stood a few feet away from the events to catch up. Sora had yet to arrive with her children, so naturally Tai divulged what Matt had asked of him.

"I can't believe she hasn't told me she was pregnant again!" Mimi exclaimed. Izzy quickly shushed his wife, "Don't broadcast it, Mimi!"

"Sorry..." She said quietly, "But why does she always do this? Does she think we don't care about her?"

"It's not that" Tai's eyes focused on his son, who was trying to catch plastic fish in a little paddling pool. "Sora is just Sora; she looks after other people, not herself."

Izzy nodded, "You got that right."

Tai's eyes darted over to the school entrance, "Speaking of which, where are Sora and the kids?" He looked at his phone to check the time.

"The festival will be over soon" Mimi chimed in, worried about her friend.

Tai wasted no time in calling her cell phone, he looked to Meiko and gestured that he was going out the school for a few moments. When the call was answered all he could make out was her youngest crying at first then followed by the sound of ruffling and coughing.

"Sora? Are you okay?" He asked quickly. "Are you still coming to the school?"

"I'm fine, we're nearly there" Sora sounded terrible.

"Where are you?" He began walking quickly down the street, looking out for her.

"We're by the convenience store. Don't worry I'll be there in a minute" Sora tried to reassure him.

By that time Tai had already turned the street corner and found Sora and her two little ones outside. Sora was sitting on the street kerb, arm wrapped around her youngest, who was still sobbing and holding a plastic grocery bag. Her daughter was standing next to her offering her a bottle of water.

"Sora!" He rushed over and crouched down in front of the trio. "What's going on?"

"It's okay- I'm not sick, I'm just pregnant-" Sora began confidently then grimaced and began vomiting into the plastic bag she was holding.

"Mama won't stop being sick, Uncle Tai" Akane, Sora and Matt's daughter explained. Tai began to sweat, the children were both very young, and they were scared. The spikey haired uncle took the two children by the hand and led them away from Sora who continued to be sick.

"Don't worry guys" he put on a warm smile, "shall we get you to the school festival and then I can look after mama?"

Akane nodded but Hiro began to whale and demanded he stay with Sora. Tai picked him up, "Hey little guy, it'll be okay! What about Uncle Tai?! Huh?" Tai was flustered; he looked down at Sora who had apparently moved onto to just dry wrenching.

"I only want Mama!" Hiro continued to cry.

"Only Mama huh..." Tai immediately began to call Meiko. People who passed in and out of the convenience store began to stare; an elderly lady asked if everything was okay.

"Meiko!" Tai attempted to give the old lady an answer but as his hands were full he could only nod and smile awkwardly, "We've got a situation..."

...

Meiko put the phone back into her pocket, "Sora's not feeling well and she's stuck with the kids outside the convenience store,"

Izzy looked panicked, "Not feeling well?! What should we do?"

Mimi gasped, "What does he mean not feeling well?"

"She's puking nonstop according to Tai, I'll go help. Can you guys watch Shinya?" Meiko asked of the pair.

Izzy stepped forward, "Don't worry I'll go" he began walking towards the school entrance.

"Bring the kids back here! Tell Tai to take Sora home!" Meiko called after him.

Izzy waved back at her, "Got it!" and began to run.

Mimi smiled at Meiko, "Good call, Meimei! Tai's leadership skills must be rubbing off on you after all these years!"

Meiko put her hand to her mouth and chuckled, "Maybe you're right…"

The two women then glanced towards the street, worried about Sora before they were interrupted by their children running up to them.

...

"Tai!" Izzy called out to his friend. He frowned at the scene unfolding before him. Tai holding onto to the two children, who were both distressed and Sora looked very unwell.

"Come on you guys! Mama will be fine!" Tai he tried to comfort them, his voice shaky. "Ah look it's Uncle Izzy! I thought Meiko was coming?"

Izzy shook his head, "she said to take Akane and Hiro back to the school so you could take Sora home"

"My wife is amazing" Tai sighed, as he handed over the kids to Izzy.

"Feel better soon, okay, Sora?" Izzy said before he headed back with Akane and Hiro, hand in hand. Tai then let out a huge sigh of relief. He turned his attention to Sora, crouching himself down in front of the redhead and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Sora, everything's been taken care of" he said gently.

"Where are my children?" Sora panicked as she looked around.

"Izzy just took them to the school; I'll take you home so you can rest a while okay?" Tai handed her the bottle of water Akane had left behind.

"I don't need them to be babysat, I'll be okay!" Tears welled up in her eyes, "Tell Izzy to bring them back!" She pleaded, before she involuntarily shut her eyes closed and leaned over between Tai's legs and vomited the water she had just drunk.

Her best friend didn't flinch when the vomit hit his shoes; he just rubbed her back and sighed, "Sora. I'm going to be tough on you, you need to rest right now... and I'm pretty mad that you didn't tell any of us that you were, you know,_ pregnant_." He began to ramble as Sora was incapacitated for the time being, "Luckily your husband clued me in before he left. So don't try anymore of this 'doing it on my own' stuff from now on, you hear? Good. Now let's get you home."

...

Tai helped Sora up the apartment block stairs and when they reached her home he opened the front door for her. He kept his arm around her and led her straight to bed. Her face was sweaty and her complexion was incredibly pale.

He put the covers over her. "Now. Stay." Tai instructed her playfully, patting her on the shoulder; he then wandered off, muttering to himself about getting a cold pack for her head.

"Can you bring the kids back?" Sora called to him, she heard the tap running in the bathroom.

"Nope!" He shot back as he came back into the room. He sat down next to her on the bed and placed the neatly folded flannel on top of her forehead.

"Please Tai, I'm not kidding around" her voice cracked and she began to cry.

Tai's eyebrows furrowed, she was so stubborn. "Just have one afternoon to yourself, Sora, heck; me and Meiko will have them the rest of the weekend if you want!"

"I don't want them to think I'm abandoning them!" She sobbed. Tai took hold of her hand and squeezed it tight.

"Why would you think that?!"

"Because Matt's gone too! It's not fair on them!" She sat up and looked directly into Tai's eyes, "I can't do this to them- oh no!" She squeaked as another wave of nausea hit and clasped her hands over her mouth.

Tai jumped up to help his poor friend and ran into the kitchen to grab a suitable sized bowl, he returned just in time to catch her before she had been sick. As she threw up into the bowl, Tai continued to talk her down, "Okay, just the afternoon then but please listen, you're not in a fit state to care for them like you usually do, Sora, they need you to be well"

Sora finished vomiting and laid back down, Tai made sure to tuck her in, hoping she might play ball and actually stay there. "And I'm starting to think you might need to see a doctor."'

"No way!" Sora tried to jump back up but Tai raised his hand to her in a stop gesture.

"Matt would KILL me if he knew what was going on right now! And I mean literally! In fact, I should probably call him" he threatened.

The redhead pouted and reluctantly laid her head back down onto her pillow. "Okay. I'll sleep for a couple of hours and then you promise to bring them back?"

Tai nodded sternly, "Yes. Now sleep, woman" he playfully pointed his finger at her. She gave a weak smile and closed her eyes.

….

It had been a tough couple of hours for the leader of the Digidestined, just when he would think Sora was finally asleep, she would start feeling unwell again and when Tai would offer her something light to eat, or get her to drink water, which would render the same result.

During a moment of respite, Tai wandered around Sora's apartment tidying away stray toys as he checked in with Meiko. Izzy, Mimi and Meiko were now at their place having dinner with the kids, Tai was put on speakerphone.

"She's in a bad way" he sighed "I think she needs to go to a hospital. She can't keep anything down"

Izzy chimed in, "Let me guess, she won't go?"

"I had to pin her to the bed just to get her to rest!" Tai exclaimed in frustration, "Uhh, not literally, I didn't do that" he quickly added, his face turning red.

Meiko pushed her glasses back then crossed her arms, "I think you're right, Tai, remember when I had morning sickness, I spent a night in hospital because I was so dehydrated"

"Exactly…" he agreed with his wife "But she's not thinking straight, she feels guilty about leaving the kids"

Mimi put her hands on her hips, "It's all well and good being a hero for her kids but she's got the baby to think about too! Call Matt!"

"How?!" Tai exclaimed "He's in space!"

Izzy shook his head, "From what I've heard from Matt, they still have access to the internet on the space station, he may be busy working but it wouldn't do any harm to at least send him an email."

"Alright, I'll do that." Tai conceded "good thing too, she won't listen to me at all"

Before he hung up, he heard Hiro begin to cry for Sora again. "Is that Hiro?"

"Wah! It was my bad for putting it on speaker phone!" Meiko laughed nervously. He could hear Mimi rushing to comfort him. "Don't worry, just focus on Sora and don't tell her about Hiro, he's been fine!"

Tai nodded, "Alright, thanks, I will…"

…

_Matt, Sora is having bad morning sickness. REALLY bad. I mean she's not dying or anything. Having trouble convincing her to see a doctor. Don't worry though! I got this! But please call ASAP. Kids are with Meiko._

Tai winced at his terrible sounding message but sent it anyway, he debated sending a follow up email to redeem himself but before he could he heard Sora retching again.

"Is anything coming up?" He asked and rushed over to the bed; he grabbed onto her side and held the bowl for her. She cried out in pain as bile hit the bowl, "Barely" she managed to answer before letting out a series of coughs.

"Sora how long has it been like this?!"

"Couple of weeks… but the last couple of days it's been nonstop." She cried out in pain again, gripping onto her bump.

That was it. Enough was enough. Action mode kicked in for the leader of the Digidestined. They had been doing this for a few hours now and she was not getting any better. It didn't matter whether Sora wanted to or not, he was taking her to the hospital. He called a taxi. He called the hospital. He sent Matt another email. Everything was now in motion. Tai lifted Sora up under the armpit and carried the bowl so it remained in front of her. "Come on now, we're going on a little trip, to make you all better"

Sora sobbed, "But my children need me!"

Tai shuffled her out of the bedroom, gently shushing her as they walked, "Sssh… it's okay, don't worry, don't worry, I promise, they are in the best hands"

"I'm their mother! I'm the best hands!" She stopped walking, in protest, still crying.

"No no no, I know, I'm not saying you're not the best" he squeezed her shoulder, acknowledging her raw emotional state was due to hormones, as well as her husband being away. He continued to comfort her, "it's going to be okay, just keep walking with me."

They made their way to the front door, thinking quickly he left his vomit covered shoes there and borrowed a pair of Matt's before putting on Sora's shoes for her. "I'm so sorry, Tai, I didn't mean to be rude! Meiko is an amazing mother!" She sniffed.

"Hey come on, don't worry about that," he took hold of her cheek and gently wiped away her tears with his thumb. He held his breath as found himself gazing at her. Sora blinked, taken aback at the gesture. The moment was broken when she suddenly bent over in pain; he shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. Tai put his arm around his friend and escorted her out of the apartment. "Now come on, you."

"Stop babying me" Sora shot back, her mood had apparently swung back to angry.

Tai sighed heavily, _unbelievable!_

….

It wasn't long before Sora was admitted and hooked up to a multiple IVs. The baby was scanned; the doctor gave her a lecture on how to look after herself, which Tai found himself mediating. A few hours later, she slept peacefully now the drugs were working and her body was beginning to rehydrate.

Tai heard his phone go off, it was Matt. Not wanting to wake Sora he slipped out of the room and answered it.

"Tai, I got your messages but why isn't Sora answering her phone?" Matt seemed to be panicking

"Don't worry, she's being treated, she'll have to stay overnight at least but she's sleeping now…" he closed his eyes as he leant against a wall, "Oh! And the baby is fine, really good" he added

"That's a relief, thanks, Tai"

"Don't mention it! I mean… she didn't make it easy for me" Tai chuckled, putting a hand behind his head.

"Well.. if she'll listen to anyone it'll be you, Tai" Matt tried to reassure him.

"That's what you think!" The spiky haired man replied, sweating.

Matt laughed, "Anyway, you'll be able to go home soon, I'll call my parents and Sora's mother to come and relieve you and they can take the kids too"

"Oh! Right! Of course… " Tai didn't know why he was surprised, that's what families do. It was his job to keep an eye out, not take over for Matt completely. His heart dropped a little as he glanced back at Sora. It was nice being close to her again, even though of course he would rather Sora wasn't sick at all.

"Tai?"

"I'm here!" He answered back quickly but cheerfully, pulling himself back into reality. Matt told him he would let him know once he knew when Sora's mother would be on her way and they finished the call.

Tai walked back into the room and sat back down in the chair next to the sleeping Sora. The medical staff had put a band around her stomach so they could monitor the baby's heartbeat. Her small bump was exposed outside of her hospital gown and the bed sheets. He relaxed back into his chair and smiled fondly, thinking that there was actually three of them in that room and to him that felt a bit magical.

….

"Oh! Taichi!" Mrs Takenouchi whispered and waved as she came into the room. "Thank you for bringing Sora, I knew she wasn't feeling well but she didn't tell me how bad it was"

"I don't think she wanted to tell anyone" he muttered as he stood up politely to properly greet Sora's mother. Mrs Takenouchi smiled then began sorting through an overnight bag she had brought for her daughter.

"Are the kids staying with Matt's mother?" Tai asked, she nodded and told him that the children had already been picked up. He relaxed knowing everything was arranged by Matt and felt comfortable leaving. He did well.

Tai gently took a hold of Sora's hand, bending down so he was closer to her, "I'm going now" he said quietly, "your mom is here" Sora slowly opened her eyes and quickly looked around the room and saw her mother at the other end of the room. She nodded sleepily. "Feel better soon, ok?" He gave her a warm smile and squeezed her hand.

"Thank you, Tai" she whispered, squeezing his hand back and smiled weakly, still exhausted.

Tai let go of her hand and gently put his hand on her bump, "Remember to look after the baby too."

She nodded and fell back to sleep.

Tai then gave a little bow to Mrs Takenouchi and headed out. Mrs Takenouchi couldn't help but smile to herself; she always liked Tai and was so glad he and Sora were still close. Of course she loved Matt but right now she was just so grateful someone had been around for her daughter today.

Authors notes: First time writing something for the adult digidestined, so I'm a bit nervous about it. Don't generally ship Meiko/Tai and Izzy/Mimi, so I hope the choice of married couples won't put off any readers from enjoying the story. If anyone has any questions about Tai/Sora Sora/Matt or anything story wise feel free to DM or leave a comment as I don't want to spoil the story with my own thoughts/shipping preferences.


	2. Chapter 2

When Tai walked in through his front door, he saw Meiko, Izzy and Mimi gathered in the living room. The kids were playing in the other room. They greeted each other and the spiky haired man dropped onto the sofa next to his wife with a big sigh. Meiko smiled and put her arms around his shoulders, "What a hero!" She announced feeling proud of her husband.

"What a day!" Tai grumbled, sinking himself back into the sofa.

Mimi still looked concerned, "How long will she stay in the hospital?"

"She'll be home tomorrow," he replied lazily.

"I'll get you dinner," Meiko said before she wandered off into the kitchen. Mimi also stood up from the sofa; she and Izzy discussed getting the kids ready and going home. They thanked Meiko for dinner. As everyone busied themselves, Tai checked his cell phone, seeing if there were any updates on his friend. His face dropped when he saw there wasn't anything. _Guess she doesn't need me anymore. _His mind flashed back to Sora crying and it made his heart race. _How could he leave her like this?!_

He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. he knew there was no point in getting angry. Then he thought about Sora again, lying in the hospital bed. _Stupid Matt._

"Earth to Tai!" Izzy called out.

Tai quickly stood up, "Oh! See you later guys"

The computer whiz rolled his eyes as Tai made his way to the front door, joining Meiko to see them off.

It was now around 9pm and Sora's mother had now gone home. She was feeling slightly more human thanks to the miracles of modern medicine; she reached for her cell phone and called her husband. It only took one ring before he picked up.

"That was fast!" She exclaimed

"Well, I've been worried like crazy about you…"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cause such a fuss" she said trailing off, embarrassed.

"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault, just _say something _next time. No one thinks you're any less a capable a mother just because you're sick"

Sora pouted, "Did Tai tell you that?"

"No… I just know you, Sora…" he sighed wistfully, "so what did the doctor say?"

She took in a big breath, "She said I could have torn a hole in my stomach" she reluctantly admitted, "but she already lectured me so please don't get mad at me"

Matt felt like tearing up the space station. "I'm so stupid Sora, why did I think this was a good idea? I don't want to be here, I want to be back home with you and the kids. It's driving me crazy!" Sora heard a crashing noise in the background.

"Because I wasn't supposed to be pregnant remember?" She reminded him, wincing at the sound of him kicking something.

"Oh… Yeah…" he relented with a sigh, done with kicking the station wall.

"And hey, why did you tell Tai I was pregnant? It's kind of personal don't you think?"

Matt flinched "Because!" Then he swallowed his pride and his voice became serious, "I was afraid, you'd stop looking after yourself and I… couldn't let that happen"

"Thank you," it hurt her a little to admit he was right but she was grateful nonetheless. Matt felt himself blush a little. "I was so rude to him, Matt! I'm so embarrassed!" She groaned, covering her eyes with her free hand.

"Well you can get a little crazy when you're pregnant." The blonde haired man said thoughtlessly.

"Matt!"

He chuckled "Sorry, I just wish I was around to experience it again, I miss you…" a voice in the background called out, "I'm so sorry I have to get back to work but I'll call tomorrow around four, please make sure the kids are there!"

Sora nodded, "Of course, I'll talk to you then"

"I love you"

"I love you too"

She sighed as she hung up, gripping onto her phone still. They had been together since they were fourteen and she still loved him the same all these years, if not more since their children were born. Matt had been away four times in his career and with every trip it got harder for Sora to cope with the constant worry, not just about her children missing their father but the fear something would happen to him. She thought about the night they discovered she was expecting again, she had spent most of it sobbing in Matt's arms. That night he promised her that he wouldn't go again and though that was something she wanted to hear, it filled her with incredible guilt. She didn't want to hold him back in his career but Matt was adamant he wanted to put family first after this mission. She glanced down at the IVs placed in her hand, and then her eyes glanced further down to her growing bump. _The baby. _The redhead reminded herself. _Tai's right, I need to think about the baby._

….

_Matt got home from work a little early that day to find a suspiciously quiet apartment, it was four in the afternoon, and shouldn't the kids be running around causing chaos before dinner? Looking down Matt spotted his wife's shoes but not Akane's or Hiro's. Odd. He slipped off his work shoes and headed out of the entryway to find his wife. He called out for her and she beckoned him into the bedroom, her voice didn't sound quite right. Matt furrowed his brows and hurried to her. In the bedroom, Sora was sat on the bed and sobbing into her hands. He knelt down in front of her and draped an arm around her. "What's happened? Where are the kids?" _

_The redhead sniffed, "They're at the park with my mother," she wiped away her tears, trying to compose herself._

_Now he knew where they were, he relaxed, "What's wrong? Why all the tears?" He asked gently._

"_I'm pregnant again!" She announced without warning, gesturing to the bedside table where a pregnancy test and papers from what looked like a doctor's office lay in a messy pile._

_Matt was confused, "Wait really?" _

"_Yes! I even went to the doctor today, I'm 8 weeks already and I didn't even realise!" Sora explained and hung her head down._

"_Oh…" he sat down on the bed next to her and brought her into his embrace while she continued to cry. "I mean… We talked about having more, maybe not right now but Sora, there's no need to be upset, and it's not a bad thing!" _

"_It _**_is _**_a bad thing!"_

"_Why?" He asked with caution, sensing she was starting to become angry._

"_Because! You're leaving next month, you idiot!" _

_The ball finally dropped, how could he forget that?! He was preparing for it every day at work, how could that slip his mind?! "Oh. Shit." Was all his brain managed to muster up. Matt loosened his top button and tie nervously. _

"_Yeah!" She belted out in a sarcastic tone; Matt winced at his own stupidity. _

"_I'm sorry, Sora…"_

"_Don't apologise, it's not your fault" she sighed. Sora felt Matt kissing her repeatedly on the head, his hand running up and down her upper arm, so soothing and lovingly. As she relaxed she took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. Matt peeked down on Sora to check if she was alright, he spotted an ultrasound photo lying on the bed within reach and picked it up, still holding tight onto his wife. He smiled to himself. Sora caught him and smiled too. She closed her eyes enjoying the feeling of having her hair stroked by her husband. Matt began to hum to himself, gazing at the photo. _

_After a few moments had passed, Matt cleared his throat. "Sora, this is the absolutely the last time I'm leaving you guys, my boss knows my heart isn't quite in it since we've had the kids… I mean, if I could back out of this right now I would, no question-" _

_Sora took his hand and squeezed it tight, "I know you would"_

"_I promise, after this, never again" _

"_Thank you" She took a moment to lean out of the embrace and smiled sadly at her husband. Matt leaned in and he kissed her lips gently, they both took their time to savour the moment before breaking the kiss._

"_Don't thank me," he smiled at her as he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. Sora leaned in for another kiss and Matt obliged, he inhaled deeply as the kiss lingered and pressed his palm into the small of her back, enjoying every second. Every time a kiss was returned, the pace would increase, their lips would part a little more and something sparked between them as their kiss turned passionate. Sora couldn't help herself; she slowly ran her fingertips across his stomach knowing it would send a shiver down his spine. Matt broke the kiss and cocked an eyebrow, "What time are the kids back home?"_

_Sora grinned, "An hour?"_

_In one swift motion Matt scooped Sora onto his lap, "Well then..!" He said with a wry smile, very pleased with the answer he received. He ran his hands up the back of her top. Sora giggled and began to kiss her husband. There would be time for planning and worrying later, for now she wanted to enjoy her husband's company. _

…

The following week, Tai had the apartment to himself for the weekend as Meiko and Shinya were travelling to Shimane to visit her parents for the weekend. Tai couldn't make it as he was away on business and couldn't get home in time to join them.

Tai hadn't spoken to Sora in the meantime but he had eyes and ears around in the form of Mimi. His intel told him that she had indeed been discharged home from the hospital the next day as planned, with a prescription for her sickness and her mother had been picking up the slack at home for her. He reached his apartment and found a little tote bag in front of the door. He raised an eyebrow and took a quick look inside. Ah. His shoes! And clean too! A note was attached.

_Tai, I'm so sorry about your shoes! Thank you for everything. Sora._

He grinned and went into his apartment, putting his cell phone to his ear, calling Sora to thank her.

"Ah Tai!" She answered. "I take it you found my package?"

Tai was relieved, she sounded cheerful, "Yep! Thanks a lot, I thought my sneakers would never be clean again!" Sora laughed. "Sora you sound back to your old self! I'm so glad"

"Yep! The medication has really helped"

He furrowed his eyebrows in suspicion, "You're not just saying that are you? You really are okay now?"

"No really, I am," She laughed again, "ask my mother! She's here keeping me hostage in my own home making sure I rest!"

"Maybe I should!" He teased.

"Mom! Tai wants to know if I'm resting and he doesn't believe me!" Sora put her cell phone on speaker, she sounded as if she was calling to her from across the room.

"Eh?! Taichi, don't you trust me? I'm her mother you know!" Mrs Takenouchi replied playfully.

"Alright… I guess that checks out" He grinned. He could hear Mrs Takenouchi asking Sora about Meiko and Shinya in the background. "They're in Shimane!" Tai answered on her behalf.

"Is that so? Why don't you come over for dinner, Taichi?" Sora's mother asked, he could hear the sound of dishes and utensils clanging around filled the background.

They went back and forth, Tai would say no but Sora's mother kept insisting. Sora would join in too, telling her mother to leave him be. The conversation then turned into Sora bringing Tai over leftovers. Tai realised that no wouldn't be taken for answer.

…

"Hey check out your resting spot!" Tai said, impressed at the little set up Sora's mother had prepared around the sofa. A large pitcher of water, remote controls, ginger sweets, crackers and a blanket folded nicely on the arm.

"It's only temporary," Sora laughed nervously. "I'll be allowed to return to being me on Monday"

Tai leant back, resting his arms behind his head, "Don't be too much like you… Look where that got you before."

She blushed, "I'm not sick anymore don't forget"

"I guess…" he reluctantly agreed, "Oh! Hey little guy!" Tai greeted Hiro as he ran up to Sora, she patted him on the top of the head and smiled. Hiro shot Tai an angry look and a loud _No! _Before climbing into his mother's embrace.

Sora put her arms around the toddler, "Hey Hiro, Uncle Tai really helped us out the other day, why don't you say thank you?" Hiro let out another loud no and the pair laughed.

"Don't mind him" She said in an apologetic tone, "he's just… "

Mrs Takenouchi stepped into the living room and held her hands out to Hiro, "Hiro! You never give your poor mama a break do you? Poor mama!" Hiro held his own arms out and was scooped up by his grandmother. Mrs Takenouchi tapped him on the nose and left the room with him, chatting to him about getting ready for bed.

Tai nodded, an air of understanding about him, "Hey, he's only two right? It can't be helped."

"He's pretty attached to me at the moment," Sora looked down into her lap, "it's hard for the kids when Matt's not around… Maybe I just don't do a good enough job as a mother when he's gone…"

"Sora…" Tai placed a hand on her shoulder, "don't think like that, you'll get yourself depressed"

She put her hands over her face in an attempt to cover her falling tears, "Sorry, hormones!"

Tai pulled her into a hug. "You're a great mother, Sora! Better than great! What would Matt say if he was here?"

Sora wiped her tears away, "He'd tell me to stop beating myself up and just do my best"

"Exactly…" Tai smiled at his old friend. "Why don't you tell him all of this?"

"I don't want him to worry, I know he feels terrible about leaving"

"I get that." He conceded, "But if you need anything, Sora, _anything _you've got me, I mean us" he corrected himself, slightly blushing. "All of us! Me, Meiko and Mimi and Izzy. Mimi is dying to help you out! And plus I bet Kari and T.K. would come too if you asked!" He rambled on.

Sora chuckled. "When did you become so grown up?"

He blinked in confusion, "Grown up? I am in my 30s now you know.."

"You know what I mean, you used to be such a bonehead to me whenever I got emotional and lately you've been so kind and understanding" she looked down into her lap, to avoid Tai's gaze.

"Alright, I'll be honest you with Sora, promise you won't tell Matt?" Tai broke the embrace and scratched the back of his head nervously. She held her breath, unsure of what he was going to reveal. "Well, before he left, he called me up, he told me to look out for you" he fixed his eyes to the floor.

"He did?" Sora was surprised.

Tai nodded. "And when he explained you were expecting again, he looked torn apart. I could tell it was killing him to leave you and the kids behind…and the fact he would ask me to do something like that up front… I… I… couldn't let him down. You're too important to him, Sora."

The two sat in silence.

"I guess it all makes sense now." Sora turned to look at the spiky haired man. "I don't know what to say, except, thank you" Tai gave her a warm smile.

The sound of Sora's mothers slippers heading towards the living room brought the moment to an end and the pair got up from sofa. The evening came to a close and Tai was even given a box of leftovers to take home, he even got a little hug from Hiro and Akane! For now it seemed, Sora was doing well and had great support around her and that made Tai very happy.

….


	3. Chapter 3

The sun was setting over Tokyo Bay; Sora gazed out the window on the train as it made its way into Odaiba alongside the Rainbow Bridge. It was now September, it had been nearly three months since Matt left, making her nearly six months pregnant already and she was counting down the days until her husband was back. It had been a rough summer, morning sickness and hot weather were not the nicest of combinations but luckily it hadn't stopped her too much from everyday activities. Lately she had been working again, teaching Ikebana to a class in Western Tokyo and getting out of the house had been really good for her.

The train pulled into the station and the redhead carefully made her way off the train and began her walk home. Outside the station she saw the familiar figure of her spikey haired friend, unlocking his bike, he himself getting ready to go home. She called over to him and waved as she approached, Tai smiled and waved back.

"Sora! How are you?" He gave her a big smile and he pulled his bike out of the rack.

"I'm great! Are you heading home?" She asked, standing aside as he turned his bike round.

Tai nodded, "Yep! Wanna walk together?"

"Sure," the pair began to walk, Tai walked his bike alongside them.

"I see you've been teaching today," Tai said, referencing Sora's kimono, her hair was up in a nice bun. She nodded. "Did you feel okay? I hope you didn't have to go a long way or anything…"

"It wasn't too bad," she said feeding Tai a little white lie, it had been over an hour away by train.

"Did you puke?" He grinned, teasing her.

"Yep!" Sora laughed.

"I knew it!" Tai laughed too, it wasn't nice for poor Sora but it had become a running joke between them. The severity of her morning sickness had died down but she still vomiting at least once a day, especially if food was around. "Anyway I thought your mom was supposed to be covering work for you?"

"Aren't I allowed to go out of the house and work and be normal for once?" Sora asked with a sigh.

Tai shook his head, "Nope!" He replied playfully, "Not when you're puking all the time you're not!"

"Hey come on, don't lecture me again!"

Tai stopped walking and gave her a semi-serious stern look, "Hey I'm just saying, it's hot out, the trains are busy and you gotta be careful!" He loosened his tie.

"Alright, jeez!" She stopped too, "I made it home in one piece didn't I?"

"I guess you're right," Tai conceded and the pair resumed walking.

"The truth is, my mom is away teaching for a couple of weeks so I've been doing some work here and there, T.K has been babysitting for me." She admitted, "so don't go worrying about me okay?"

"T.K, huh?" He said pondering the situation, "Matt really had been looking out for you, that's impressive!"

Sora stopped as they reached her building, "You wanna come up and say hi?"

"Sure!" Tai agreed. Sora waited for him as he put his bike away and they went up together. Tai couldn't help but wonder about his friend, they had only seen each other a few times in the last month or so and he hadn't talked with her one on one in a while. He hoped she wasn't still feeling down. Sora announced their arrival as they walked through the front door and Akane rushed over to give her mom a big hug, she grinned at Tai and showed him some stickers she had been playing with.

"Hey Tai!" T.K greeted, warmly, he had Hiro strapped in a carrier to his back, the little boy seemed content and was resting his head against T.K's back. Hiro had a hard time settling when Sora wasn't around, he needed extra measures to keep him happy. "I haven't seen you in a while! Not since I came back for the fireworks festival!"

"Yeah man, how have you been?" Tai sat down at the table and Akane followed him over, she sat down and continued to pass Tai stickers.

Sora put her hand to her cheek in a thoughtful pose. "Wait, has it really been that long? I can't remember..."

Tai laughed, "Don't you remember? You puked in the bushes downstairs?"

Sora blushed, "Does every story have to revolve around me being sick?!"

"Yep." Tai gave a playful grin, nudging her with his elbow and Sora groaned in embarrassment.

T.K laughed too, "Poor Sora, she can't catch a break.."

Sora stroked her little boys head and told him she would be right back- she went to get changed into something more comfortable while T.K served dinner to the kids. He got Hiro off his back and placed him into his chair.

Tai gave Hiro a little smile but got nothing but a pout in return. "You still don't like me, do you little guy?"

"Hiro doesn't like you?" T.K was surprised, he handed Tai a cold glass of barley tea.

The spiky haired man sighed, "Not since I took Sora away from him that day she went to the hospital but wow he likes you! Way more than anyone else I've seen!"

The blonde man simply smiled, "That's because I'm his Uncle!"

"Wah!" Tai nearly spit out his drink, "But still! I'm kind of his Uncle too…" he trailed off, glancing at Hiro.

"Yeah but I'm his _real_ Uncle." T.K grinned, knowing it would annoy Tai.

Tai flopped his head onto the table, "It's hopeless…" Realising he didn't have much time before Sora would return, he sat up and spoke in a hushed tone, "Hey man, how is Sora doing? _Really_?"

T.K flinched, taken aback by the sudden questioning, "You sound like my brother!"

"Sorry… I was just, you know, wondering. I haven't seen Sora that much over the Summer break. I didn't realise she had gone back to work or anything." Tai stared off in the direction of Sora's bedroom; he tried to come off as casual as possible but T.K could see he was worried. Tai was no longer just his brother's friend; he was his brother in law now. Kari and himself were married and had a daughter. He loved having Tai in his family but he was still slightly terrified of him, in the dating your little sister kind of way. However, there was something in the back of his mind, he began to feel protective of Matt and Sora's relationship, he felt a niggling, T.K wasn't sure what it was- why was Tai so concerned? They seemed to be a lot closer than usual.

A cold expression set over T.K's face, "Well she has a lot of support around if she needs it. From _family_, that's why _I'm_ here."

Tai sensed T.K was being off with him but he wasn't exactly sure why. His matter of fact response wasn't very convincing. "What about Kari? Doesn't she need you too?" He shot back, calling the younger man's bluff.

T.K immediately crumbled under the pressure, "Oh man are you playing the older brother card on me?!" He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"You started it!" Tai leaned forward in his seat, he began whispering so they wouldn't attract any unwanted attention, "Why are you being so weird?!"

"You're being weird!" He whispered back, loudly.

"Me?! I feel like you're accusing me of something here! What's your problem?"

"I don't know…" T.K crossed his arms, "You guys just seem _friendlier_ than usual..."

"What are you saying?! Sora's my friend!" Tai quickly decided it would be best to just give up. "Forget it." He exhaled loudly, he felt like he wasn't getting anywhere with T.K, "I was just asking, okay?"

Sora walked back in, she had changed from her kimono to a pair of leggings, a stretchy black vest and a blouse she kept unbuttoned. She sat down at the table next to Hiro and began to help feed him, "What are you guys talking about?"

T.K leaned back in his seat and gave a Sora a stiff smile, "Oh nothing, just at how terrible an Uncle, Tai is."

Akane piped up, "I like Uncle Tai!"

"Yeah alright!" Tai smiled and ruffled Akane's hair. "Anyway I better go home for dinner, Meiko is making curry tonight." He stood up and made his way to the door. "Oh don't get up, Sora, I'll be okay."

To T.K's dismay, Sora stood up, "Don't be silly, I'll see you out" she said with a smile and followed him to the door. He couldn't help himself, he leaned his neck over to try and hear what they were saying. When he heard the door close he turned his attention back on his niece and nephew. When Sora returned she sat back down and pulled Hiro onto her lap.

"What were you guys whispering about?" She asked, not skipping a beat.

T.K stood up and took the dishes to the sink, "Oh nothing…" he was trying to play it cool.

"It sounded like you guys were fighting."

Akane chimed in, "They _were_ fighting and being _weird." _

T.K began to sweat, "Hey! We weren't fighting!"

"What have you guys got to fight about anyway?" Sora continued, ignoring last statement.

The blonde man signed and gave up, "I don't know, I just… you know you don't have to turn to Tai for help, you've got _us, _your family!"

Sora put Hiro down and walked over to her brother in law. She put her hand gently on his shoulder, "Of course, I know that, I think you're getting the wrong idea, Matt asked Tai to look out for me, that's all… There's nothing weird going on, okay?"

"He did? Why didn't he ask me?" He asked, surprised and a little sad.

"I don't know, there could be lots of reasons… In fact he _did_ ask you, that's why you're here, silly so I could go to work! Don't worry about it, okay? We love you! And the kids love you! You're the best uncle around!"

T.K felt a pang of sadness in the pit of his stomach, "I know, I know..."

"Don't be silly," she smiled warmly at T.K but before they could continue their conversation, Sora's cell phone began to ring.

"It's Daddy!" Akane yelled in excitement, she stood up on the chair and flung her arms in the air with glee.

…

It was just after eight in the evening when the doorbell at the Kamiya residents went off, Meiko blinked at Tai in confusion but he responded with a shrug. They had been relaxing for the night, their son was fast asleep in bed and they were snuggled on the sofa and not expecting any visitors.

The spiky haired man peered through the peephole and saw T.K, he opened the door, a little worried due to their earlier conversation. T.K smiled, his hands in his pockets, no matter how much T.K grew up, he still had that boyish charm about him. "Do you wanna talk?"

…

The pair leaned onto the balcony railings of the apartment building, they were situated outside the front door looking out into the night, Tokyo's lights glowed in the distance.

"So?" Tai began.

"I'm sorry about earlier," T.K sighed, "I didn't mean to imply anything was going on."

Tai turned around and leaned back onto the railing, "Don't worry about it, you didn't have to come over to tell me that." He peeked one eye at T.K, sensing there was more to come.

"I'll level with you," He turned to face Tai, he looked sad. "Sora's been really depressed."

"Depressed?" He asked gently.

"That's why she's been working a lot, she's been lonely at home and struggling to look after the kids by herself"

"I see."

"I saw you guys walking together… She looked so happy to be joking around with you today; I guess that's why I got mad." He sighed, "I've been babysitting for her so she could work, it seems to have helped her mood but even after Matt called this evening, all she did was cry after the kids went to bed."

Tai put his hands on his hips. "T.K. you can't carry this all by yourself, have you talked to Matt?"

"I… don't want to upset him" T.K looked down at the ground.

"Why is everyone so afraid of upsetting Matt?" He rolled his eyes," It's _his _wife! He needs to know!"

T.K groaned, "You know what I mean, Tai, it'll kill him, I don't wanna worry him when he can't even do anything about it."

"He _needs_ to know." He reiterated, "Wouldn't you want to know if something was up with Kari?" There was a short pause, T.K looked pensive. "Look, I'm going to fix this, okay?"

He relaxed and nodded, "Thanks, you know… After all these years there's still something of a leader in you, Tai."

Tai understood where T.K was having difficulty, maybe he was too close to them both to see clearly. "Don't worry about it, okay? Maybe it's time I picked up some slack anyway, I've been on vacation and busy at work the last month."

T.K thanked him again and Tai gave him a big pat on the back before sending him on his way. "And hey get back and look after my sister, you hear?"

"Alright!" T.K grinned and waved goodbye to his brother in law.

Tai waved back and he returned inside. Meiko was waiting for him in the living room.

"What was that all about?" She asked her husband, sitting back down on the sofa.

Tai sighed, "Did you guys know Sora was depressed?"

Meiko tilted her head to the side, "It's hard to say, of course she's going to be sad with Matt gone but she doesn't really open up to me. She'll listen to _me_ cry but for some reason she won't let me do the same for her. Is that what T.K was talking to you about?"

"Yeah.." he looked up at the ceiling, "It's just the way she is, even if she's close with you and Mimi she doesn't let up about her what's really going on unless it's with Matt. It's always been that way."

"Or you," Meiko poked him playfully.

He chuckled nervously, "I guess so…"

"Actually there was something but I didn't want to worry you…"

Tai sat up in surprise, "Why is everyone so afraid of upsetting each other?!"

"I'm sorry!" She winced.

"It's okay, I'm sorry I didn't mean to overreact.. what happened?"

Meiko took in a deep breath, "The night of the fireworks, Sora was running late, Mimi went up to check on her and apparently she was having a fight with her mother about leaving the kids. She was hysterical; she didn't want to come at all. Mimi said in the end she did calm down but I think all Sora's mom wanted was for her to go out and have a good time."

Tai nodded slowly, listening intently. He knew what he was going to do, he would set his plan in motion tomorrow. The digidestined had all planned to meet at the beach in Odaiba for a picnic, so the kids could play and the adults could sit back and relax. Tai hoped he would get a chance to catch up with Sora at some point and get to the bottom of this before he had to lie to NASA and get Matt home earlier than planned. He imagined that wouldn't be a good idea or easy to pull off, well or so Izzy told him.

…

The afternoon was a success. The weather wasn't too hot, there was a nice breeze and it was accompanied with lots of food and laughter. Joe and TK joined them too. Unfortunately Kari had to work.

"Hey," Tai greeted his friend with a smile and sat down next to her on the picnic blanket. Hiro was napping on her chest; Tai passed her a bottle of water, which she gladly took. "The vomit count has been zero this afternoon; you're going to ruin my score!"

Sora nearly spit out her water, "Your score?!"

Tai grinned, "Me and the guys have been betting on when and where!" As if on cue, Izzy and Joe sat down, joining them on the blanket.

"I'd say the trash can is more likely." Izzy sat down on the other side of Sora.

"And I bet the picnic basket," Joe said.

"Not you too, Joe!" She cried out, blushing. "I can't help it you know!" Hiro shifted around on her lap, she began to lightly stroke him. "And anyway there's never any warning so there's no use betting." Sora shrugged with a coy smile. They all chuckled.

Joe sat down, he looked over at Hiro, "How is he? The guys were telling me he's been a handful." He asked gently, going into doctor mode.

Sora looked to Tai in a panic, "Tai! What did you tell Joe?"

Tai gave her a stern look, "Come on, Sora, maybe Joe can help."

Sora blushed deeply and looked down at her sleeping toddler, she knew if she wanted to help him, she had to admit what was going on. "It's not him." The three men looked at each other, surprised she really was talking. "It's me…"

"What do you mean, Sora?" Joe asked carefully.

"It's my fault, I've been a terrible mother to them since Matt left." Her voice was shaky, "I'm not good enough. I don't know how to be a good mother anymore."

Mimi, Meiko and T.K came to join the group; the children were busy eating, the oldest child Naomi, Kari and T.K's daughter, who was nine years old seemed to be supervising them all.

Joe was still taking the lead, "Sora, right now, your mother is away and you're alone right? It's going to be a lot harder when you're doing everything by yourself. It's not that you're doing a bad job, you're sick, pregnant and have two young children…"

Mimi's eyes filled with tears, "I struggle sometimes too, even without anything else going on." Meiko nodded along with her. "You're not alone."

"I'm sorry; I don't want to cause a fuss like this." Sora said as tears fell down one by one into her lap.

"We're going to help you, Sora," Tai looked into Sora's eyes, "You just have to _let_ us."

"That's right," Izzy chimed in.

Mimi gripped onto Sora's leg, "Please Sora, we love you so much, we're so worried about you."

Sora was taken aback by the love of her friends. "Are you sure? T.K can tell you I've not been easy to be around." She glanced up at him.

Her brother in law shook his head and smiled, "Don't listen to her!"

"Yeah quit that, Sora!" Tai added passionately. "Remember what I told you last time." He playfully pointed a finger at her. "None of this doing it on your own stuff."

"Alright…" The redhead finally nodded. "Thank you." She gave Tai a smile and then was brought into a big hug by Mimi.

"Yay! Thank goodness!" She exclaimed.

A warm fuzzy feeling ran over the group and the scene caught the attention of the children who began to demand ice cream. The rest of the day the group planned amongst themselves how they were going to help their friend.

…

The gang said their goodbyes to Sora; they were going back to Meiko and Tai's place to have a couple of beers. Tai offered to walk Sora and her kids back home first. As they walked into the apartment she turned to say goodbye to Tai but to her surprise he kept walking in.

"I'll help you put the kids to bed." He said cheerfully, taking his shoes off.

"Oh! I don't need help with that, Tai!" Sora said waving her hands in a panic..

Tai made his way into the bathroom and started running the taps, "I can't hear you!"

Akane giggled, "What is he doing, Mama?"

"Well…" Sora began but was unsure herself. Tai returned and took Sora by the shoulders and lead her into the living room, when he reached the sofa he merely pointed.

"Here. Stay here."

"Wha- but you don't know how to put them to bed?"

"I'll tell him!" Akane exclaimed excitedly, eager to help.

"See?" Tai grinned at Sora. She lamented and sat down, stroking her bump happily. Tai passed her the remote, "Now watch TV and don't move an inch!"

Hiro began to cry but Tai picked him up before he could make it over to Sora, "Hiro, you and me are gonna be best friends by the end of this, right?" Before Sora could intervene, Tai had already carried him away. Akane followed in, giggling all the way.

"My brother cries a lot!" Akane proudly told Tai.

"He sure does!" He replied.

Sora laughed to herself and left them to it.

….

Tai walked into the living room some time later, the apartment was still, quiet and peaceful. The children were fast asleep and he could see that Sora was as well. He deliberated whether or not he should wake her up but found himself crouching down in front of her.

"Sora," he whispered, "The kids are asleep, I'm going now."

She nodded, unable to rouse herself awake just yet. Tai smiled and stood back up, unwilling to disturb her any further. He grabbed a blanket from the side of the sofa and placed it over her. He turned off the television set and began to make his way out of the room.

"Tai?" He heard Sora call out.

He peeked his head back in, "Yeah?"

She stumbled over to him and wrapped her arms around him tight, almost falling on top of him. "Thank you so much." Tai blushed and wrapped his arms around her too. He could feel her bump in between them.

"I told you I could do it for you" he smiled down at her.

"I can't believe he stopped crying."

"See? I'm the best!" He teased her.

The embrace lingered, he was sure she was crying but she didn't make a sound but he could feel his shirt becoming damp. It seemed as if Sora's defences had crumbled, it took him by surprise, her sudden embrace completely melted his heart. His legs began to feel like jelly. Without thinking he kissed the top of head and whispered to her, telling her everything was going to be okay. Tai held onto her tight, she was hurting so bad and he wanted to stop it. He gasped as he felt his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

"I'm sorry- y-you should go." Sora quickly withdrew her arms from around him.

To her surprise, Tai pulled her back into his arms, "I wish I didn't have to." He whispered, barely audible but Sora heard it.

"But you do," she smiled up at him, tears still falling.

"I don't want to."

"I'll be fine."

"I know you're just trying to be brave." _And it kills me. _A tear slipped down his cheek, he pulled Sora closer to him.

"Tai..." Her voice was muffled; she pressed her face into his chest. Sora was taken aback by his tears.

He felt a lump in his throat, "I'm just so worried about you," Tai tried his best to stop his tears falling but it was futile. Their hands bumped together in their tangled embrace, their fingers linked together tightly. She looked up at him as he pulled her hand up to his chest, their eyes met, Sora could feel her cheeks burning. Tai felt himself leaning down, their lips millimetres apart.

His phone began to vibrate again.

Sora quickly stepped away from Tai, "We can't do this, you have to go home"

He nodded; giving a small "Mm" he gave her a melancholy smile. "I'm so sorry, Sora," _I don't want you to be lonely. _"I'll be back okay?"

All Sora could do was nod back through her tears as he left the apartment.

…

Tai was unprepared for the rain, it was pouring down heavily. He quickly made his way down the stairs of her apartment block and into the street. Tears continued to flow and for some reason he couldn't stop them, he gave up trying to navigate through the rain and found himself coming to a slow stop. Taking cover under a tree, Tai wiped his cheeks. _Stop it please stop it. _He told himself, feeling ashamed and guilty, like he had taken advantage of Sora in some way, he just wanted to make her happy. She was so lonely. More than anything, he was terrified he had ended their friendship for good. _T.K was right, how did he see it before me? But I don't love Sora, I know I love Meiko. _

"Tai?!" He heard Izzy calling out to him, Tai looked up and Izzy ran over to him, passing him an umbrella. "We tried to get ahold of you so you wouldn't get caught in the rain, why didn't you answer?!"

Tai ran his hands over his face; no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get a hold of himself.

"What's the matter? Did you get into a fight with Sora?" Izzy was shocked and confused. "Tell me what's going on!"

"I just... I just need a minute" his voice was shaken up, he turned away from his friend. Izzy opened his mouth to speak but words wouldn't come, instead he put a hand on his friend's shoulder and moved the umbrella to shield him from the rain.


	4. Chapter 4

_I can do this! _Tai stood at Soras front door. He winced. _I think. _He hadn't seen or heard from Sora in a few days but according to the groups schedule, it was his turn to come and give Sora a hand. His cell phone beeped, a text from Sora, telling him that she was fine and didn't need any help. _Typical, Sora, _he thought to himself but they couldn't go on avoiding each other, he had to talk to her. As he went to ring the doorbell, he saw the nameplate next to it and his stomach dropped. _Ishida Residence. Ishida. Ishida. Ishida. _Panic set over the man, his heart began to beat faster.

The front door suddenly opened."Sora!" He gasped, "How did you know I was here?"

She smiled nervously, "I heard your cell phone go off after I text you."

"Oh!" He blushed, "Don't worry, I'm just here to drop off some groceries for you. Mimi gave me a list." Tai held up the grocery bag, trying to hand it over to her so he could make a swift exit.

Sora stepped back, "Its okay you can come in. Hiro is having a nap," sensing his hesitation, she quickly added, "_Please_ Tai?"

He couldn't refuse her request. The spiky haired man nodded and headed inside.

…

Sora dumped the shopping bag onto the kitchen counter and turned to face her friend. "Tai, I'm so sorry about the other night," she looked down at her hands and nervously wrung them together. "when you... went to leave... I started to panic, I just wanted you to stay with me because I think I was scared of feeling lonely again. It was selfish of me."

"No, Sora it's my fault." He shook his head, "You were really vulnerable that night. It was totally wrong of me." He sighed. "It's just seeing you so sad crushed me and I just… wanted to fix it somehow."

"I know.." Sora leaned against the counter and her hand ran down her bump.

His fists tightened up. "You know, that day we walked home together from the station? T.K warned me about things being weird between us."

"He said the same thing to me too." Sora sighed. They stood in silence for a while, lost in thought. The redhead shifted on her feet, "Do you think we can still be friends, Tai? Is that even possible anymore?"

Tai instinctively grabbed her by the arm, "Of course it is, even if things are weird right now, I'll always be here for you, no matter what!" Their eyes met for a moment but Sora quickly looked away. "I mean it, Sora." She put her hand onto his and nodded, grateful for his kind words. The sound of the grocery bag slipping off the counter and hitting the floor sprung the pair apart. "Oh man, we gotta stop doing that!"

Sora felt her cheeks burning. "We sure do!"

"I blame you, maybe you're giving off pheromones or something…" Tai grumbled and leaned himself over to pick up the groceries.

She laughed loudly, "Me?! What about you! I've never known you to be so nice to me!"

"It's because of the pheromones!" He cried out in desperation.

"Alright Tai I'll make sure to stay at least 5 feet away at all times, okay?"

Tai began to laugh too. To his relief, the awkwardness between them had dissipated. Maybe if he just kept his distance and let the others take over from now on, things would be okay.

…

Later that afternoon, Tai stopped by Izzy and Mimi's place. Tai sat at the kitchen table and watched Izzy tapping away at his keyboard.

"Gee I wish I could work from home like you, Izzy" Tai grumbled.

"And aren't you supposed to be at work too?"

"Nope, I'll be travelling to Kyoto tonight for a conference."

"I see." Izzy didn't take his eyes off the computer, Tai didn't mind though, it reminded him of the good old days and it was nice. Izzy was the only one who Tai had confided in about what happened between him and Sora, it was times like this he was grateful to have such a good friend. Tai kicked back and enjoyed his coffee. Izzy finally closed his laptop. "How was Sora? Did you guys talk?"

"Yeah…" Tai put his cup down, "Hopefully things will get back to normal now."

"That's a relief. You had me really worried the other night." Izzy frowned.

"Do you think… Sora will say something to Matt?"

"I'm not sure but even if she does, Matt will understand." The computer whiz crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair.

Tai gave a sideways glance, "You say that now but I'm pretty sure I'll be the one getting a big punch in the face when he gets back."

"Well, you deserve it." He said not missing a beat.

"I know," Tai slid down the table so his head was buried into his arms, he felt defeated.

He sighed at the sorry state of his best friend, "Don't worry, you're going away for the rest of the week, you can leave Sora to us now. The only thing you have to do now is call Matt and tell him about Sora. Her depression I mean."

"You're right." Tai stood up, "I'll email him now to see when he's around."

Izzy wandered into the kitchen to make some more coffee for them both. He jumped out of his skin and ran back when he heard Tai suddenly yell. "What's the matter?!"

"I just texted him and he's calling me back straight away!" Tai was breaking out in sweat. "He _knows_!"

"You're being paranoid! How could you know that?!" Tai didn't respond, he was just staring at his cell phone. "Answer it, Tai!"

The spiky haired man gulped and slid his finger across the screen to answer the call. "M-Matt?" Tai quickly made his way over to the sofa and sat down, Izzy followed him.

All Izzy could make out was barrage of shouting from the cell phone's speaker. He couldn't hear what was being said but it was clear Matt was furious. Tai was right after all.

"Listen Matt, I'm sorry! I can explain!" The pair looked at each other, completely aghast. Another plethora of shouting came from the phone, Izzy leaned in. "I've got Izzy here as a witness! So if you send a missile down to my house to kill me, he'll know it was you!"

Izzy gave him a hard shove, "Tai! That's not helping your case! Be serious!"

"Ow!" Tai exclaimed, then stopped to tune into Matt's yelling again, "No, Izzy will not kick my ass for you! Right…?!" He looked to his friend with pleading eyes.

The computer whiz rolled his eyes, he grabbed Tai's phone from him and put it on speaker. "Now, you guys-"

Though Izzy had planned to start mediations, it was clear Matt wasn't done yet. "I can't believe you would DO this, Tai! I asked you to look out for her not to take _advantage_ of her! Sora is my WIFE. She's carrying MY child! And you thought it would be okay for you to put your disgusting hands all over her! In MY home with my CHILDREN there!" Tai buried his head in his hands, completely overwhelmed by the situation unfolding before him. He had never felt so awful in his entire life, he opened his mouth to talk but Matt still raged on. "I'm going to KILL you, Tai!"

Nervous wasn't the word for how Izzy felt but he tried his best to fight on for his friend."Now try and calm down, Matt. From my understanding, there wasn't anything... indecent going on."

"Don't defend him! Be a man Tai and speak for yourself!" Matt shouted back.

"I'm not defending him, Matt, believe me, I'm not."

"Yes you _are_!"

"Fine! I give up!" Izzy huffed.

"He's right," Tai finally spoke up,"Matt, please just listen to me for a minute, then when you get back to Earth you can kick my ass, okay?"

"Fine."

Tai trembled, "Okay. I don't know what Sora told you-"

"She _told _me you guys almost _kissed_!"

His heart was pounding out of his chest, "She's right. We did. Almost. But… In some messed up way I was trying to be there for her. She was upset, I was upset for her. It didn't mean _anything_! I promise!" He waited for Matt to respond but the line was silent. "Matt, please tell me you and Sora are going to be okay?"

"Of course we are…" Matt let out a heavy sigh.

"You didn't yell at Sora, did you?"

"Why would I yell at Sora? Don't make _me _out to be a bad guy! You're the one creeping on her!"

"Hey come on! That's too far!" Tai belted out.

"I trusted you, man!" Matt shot back.

Tai winced, the truth stung. "I'm sorry… Matt. I really am." His voice broke a little.

Putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, Izzy moved in to mediate again, "Look, I know this situation is really messed up right now but Tai is just as upset as you are about this." Neither man spoke, so he continued, "It's probably got something to do with the reason we wanted to speak to you in the first place. Sora hasn't been doing so great, she's been really depressed."

"I know." Matt interrupted, "My brother called me last night, he was with Sora. They told me everything. We're going to get her help. In fact I need to go. I need to call control and talk to my boss."

Tai felt like his world was crumbling around him, his heart was beating so fast. _T.K knew too._ He grimaced and leant forward, tears fell fast and hard down onto his lap, each drop leaving their mark on his trousers. "Matt. I-I want to fix this."

"Please Tai, just leave my wife alone from now on." He sounded exasperated, tired of the situation and without warning he hung up.

A sigh escaped Izzy, he gripped onto his friends phone. "Everything will be okay. I _know_ it."

"He was supposed to leave it to me. I was supposed to _help_ Sora. I was supposed to fix all of this but I've made it worse for everyone_._" Tai hid his face in his hands. "T.K came to me too, he knew something was going on between Sora and me but I told him everything was fine but it wasn't. I was even a jerk to him about it."

Izzy wasn't exactly sure about what Tai was talking about but he put his arm around his friend. He usually wasn't very touchy-feely but his heart felt heavy too. They jumped when they heard a pair of keys fall onto the floor, they turned around to see Mimi standing there, completely frozen.

"Wah! How long have you been standing there?!" Izzy bolted up off of the sofa, taking a defensive stance.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Mimi shouted and pointed to her husband and then to Tai. "You and Sora?!"

Tai stood up and rushed towards the front door, "I can't do this right now."

"No, please don't go, I'm sorry I didn't mean to eavesdrop but trust me there was no good time to interrupt!" Mimi pleaded with him. "And plus I can't let you leave, you're too upset." It was too late, the front door slammed shut. Izzy set off running after him.

As he reached the waterfront, Izzy stopped running, he had found Tai. Just as he stepped on to the sand, he saw another figure approaching his friend. It was Kari. She pulled her brother into a big hug, Tai was burying his head into her shoulder. Izzy breathed a sigh of relief, _just in time_.

….

The sun was setting and the siblings were sat in the sand, looking out onto the water.

"I'm sorry you've come all the way here, to console your stupid brother." Tai ran his hand through his hair, embarrassed at the entire situation but Kari smiled at him reassuringly.

"Hey it's no big deal, what kind of sister would I be if I wasn't here for you?"

The Digidestined furrowed his brows, "Does T.K know you're here?"

"Yep." She said without missing a beat.

"He can't be happy about that…"

Kari leaned back onto her hands, letting the sand slip over her fingers. "Yeah but he can't tell me what to do. You're my brother, Tai, if he wants to play the 'family comes first' game then I will too." She said, an air of stubbornness about her.

"So I've made you guys fight too, huh? Wow. I've really been ruining everybody's lives and I haven't even told Meiko yet and ruined my own."

"Tai, you need to talk to her, she can't be the last person to know."

He sighed, "It's already too late for that. I'm screwed." There was a moment of silence between them. "Kari, I saw Sora today and she didn't mention a thing. Is it wrong to be upset about that? I thought she would have at least warned me she told Matt."

"Well, I think if she wants to keep her marriage together she can't be sneaking around behind Matt's back, plus T.K told me they're focusing on getting help right now." Kari stretched out her legs and crossed one over the other, she had to admit the situation was very bad. Very, very bad. This would affect the entire dynamic of her family. Her and T.K were used to Matt and Tai fighting but this was a whole other ball park. Her husband, understandably was fighting in Matt's corner while he was gone. Kari understood that T.K saw Sora as a sister of his own but she couldn't get on board the hate Tai train, it wasn't fair to her or her brother, Sora was a great person but she was at fault in this too. Too bad she couldn't get T.K to even consider that possibility, he was protecting her 100 percent. It couldn't be helped, she thought and just hoped everything would blow over soon.

"Yeah, I get it…" he conceded.

"I can't believe this is happening now, I always thought this would happen in high school. Remember that Christmas? You were so bummed out that Sora asked Matt out."

Tai focused his gaze back on the water, "This is different. Meiko is my wife and the mother of my son. I love her more than anything, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I was just…"

He felt her hand on his, she gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry Tai, I believe you. Now go talk to Meiko, haven't you got to get the Shinkansen tonight?"

Tai looked to Kari and nodded with determination. The secret had spilled and spreading faster then he could contain. it was time to tell his wife.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Ishida apartment always felt its emptiest after the children were in bed. It was so quiet and still. Sora wandered from her bedroom, freshly changed into a pair of pajamas and contemplated whether she could be bothered to make herself something to eat. Was it worth the effort when she would just vomit it up anyway? Her medicine had been working well the last couple of months but rather then stopping the sickness altogether, it just lessened it from a constant level of vomiting to a few sessions of retching over the toilet a day. She slowly lowered herself down onto the sofa, going easy on her aching back and mindlessly put the television on. The apartment felt better with a bit of background noise. She cursed under her breath, wishing she had made a cup of tea before she sat down. _No tea for me, _she thought. _I'm stuck here now. _

Sora did her best to watch the TV but her mind kept wandering to the drama of the last few days. Her brows furrowed as she tried to pay attention to the program but it was futile. She hated herself and she couldn't stop thinking about that fact, over and over again. Causing nothing but pain for everyone around her. _Matt, Tai, T.K, Meiko… the kids. _Grimacing, she tried to change the channel to distract herself. Luckily her phone began to ring, it was a video call from Matt.

Her heart filled with joy as she answered it. "Matt!"

He gave her a big smile, "Sora! How are you?"

Leaning forward in her seat, she nodded, "I'm good! I wasn't expecting to hear from you today!"

"Well, actually there's a reason for that…" Her face dropped, so afraid of what he might say. He waved his hands in front of him, "No! It's good! I'm coming home, Sora, just for you." Matt smiled, his eyes welled up with tears.

"Huh?! For me? When?!"

"Two weeks!"

Sora almost jumped to her feet, "Really?!"

He nodded, "I'm just sorry it can't be any sooner."

Sora was elated, "I feel like I'm dreaming, this is real right?! You're really coming home? And never going back into space ever again?"

"That's right!" It was such a relief to see his wife happy like this, after everything she had been through the last couple of months he was beyond grateful his bosses saw this as a family emergency, important enough to warrant an early finish. It had really been his boss at JAXA that had pulled some strings for him, he fought hard for him and he was glad it was his last mission because there was no way he would be sent back up again after pulling this stunt. His reputation would be tarnished forever.

"I can't believe it, Matt… only two weeks!"

"Will you be able to hold on until then?"

She nodded, "Of course. Two weeks is a hell of a lot sooner than two months!"

"Sora, did T.K take you to the doctor today?"

She rolled her eyes, "Hey don't pretend like you guys haven't been talking about me…"

"No, really, Sora I've just woken up, I have no idea. Tell me." He said taking a sip from his canteen bottle. "See look! Coffee, that means it's morning!" He teased her.

"Yeah right! There could be anything in that!" She laughed.

"You got me, T.K emailed me earlier, I'm really proud of you, Sora, I think talking to someone will really help."

She sighed heavily, "Yeah… Joe's arranged everything for me."

"Good old, Joe. You're being a trooper, you know that? I have to go now… I'll see you in two weeks, okay? And I'll try to call again tomorrow."

Sora smiled, "Alright, I love you."

"I love you too." He waved her goodbye.

The call ended and Sora threw her phone down next to her on the sofa. She knew Matt, very well, better than anyone, well except maybe T.K but she knew he was putting on a facade to keep her happy. He was going to lose it at some point. She wondered if anything had happened between Matt and Tai but she knew nobody would dare to tell her even if it did. Stroking her bump methodically as she felt the baby tossing and turning inside she went deep into thought.

Her phone beeped, an email from Matt with a link to a countdown webpage that was ticking down to his arrival. Happy tears spilled onto the screen.

….

_It was their last night together, usually they would have something romantic planned but Sora's morning sickness had thrown that out the window. They both lay in bed despite it only being eight thirty in the evening, Sora was still feeling queasy and Matt wanted to just lie next to her even though he wasn't tired at all. He just wanted to be next to her. The newly expectant mother seemed to be fast asleep, he slowly reached his arm over and began to gently move the loose strands of hair away from her face. She smiled and opened her eyes. _

"_I'm sorry, did I wake you?" _

"_I was just dozing." Sora shifted over to her husband and he opened his arms up, motioning for her to come closer. She obliged and wrapped an arm around his chest. "It's not morning is it?"_

_Giving her a kiss on the head he quickly reassured her it was still early evening. "Try not to think about the time, Sora, just relax." _

"_Alright…" She relented with a sigh, he could feel her body became a little heavier as he began to stroke her head, carefully running his fingers through the strands of her strawberry blonde hair. "But what is the time?" _

"_20:30."_

_Sora peeked her head up to see the time on the alarm clock for herself. "Really that can't be right… 20:47…" she raised an eyebrow. "That's not 20:30!"_

_He laughed, "What's the difference?!" _

"_That's practically 21:00!" Matt only laughed harder, Sora puffed her cheeks in protest. "That's like twenty minutes difference! Hey quit laughing at me!" She poked at her husband. _

"_I'm sorry you're just being so cute right now." He smiled. She huffed and flopped her head back down onto the pillow. "Try and get some sleep, you've been sick all day." _

"_You don't have to remind me, I was the one who was stuck sitting next to the toilet." _

"_It's weird… you weren't this sick with Akane or Hiro…" His hand cupped her small bump. _

_Sora sighed, "Yeah…" There might have been an explanation for it, the doctor told her it could be stress related as Matt was leaving but she would never tell him that. It would kill him._

_Matt grazed her bump with his thumb. It was barely noticeable but it was there and firm to the touch. "The baby won't recognise my voice…" _

"_Of course it will! I can put the phone to my belly when you call." Sora reached down and gave his hand a squeeze._

"_You will?" _

"_Mmhmm." _

"_Thank you." He smiled to himself and let his mind wander for a moment. Unconsciously he began to sing. Sora closed her eyes and just listened, letting herself drift off to sleep. _

—

It had been a long day of travel back from Kyoto and the former leader of the Digidestined was ready to go to bed, or the couch as the case was for him. He hoped the couple of days away meant Meiko had cooled down a bit but judging by her radio silence during his trip maybe it was futile. Tai contemplated getting his own dinner from the convenience store and eating alone somewhere before going home. _No, I need to go home_. Dragging his feet he walked the last block to his apartment just before he turned the corner a familiar sound caught his attention. Sora, sitting on the stairs of her apartment building being sick into a bag. Without hesitating he ran over.

"Sora?!"

She looked up at him, her vision was blurry but she knew who was crouched in front of her right away. "Tai… it's okay, don't worry about me, please just go," She said in a panic.

"Go?" He was confused by her tone, "I can't leave you alone like this!"

"She's not alone."

T.K appeared behind her and he was fuming at the sight of Tai. "Get lost."

"T.K!" Sora grabbed onto her brother in laws pant leg, "Its okay!" The expectant mother was helpless to intervene as she began to vomit again.

"I'm sorry," was all Tai could manage, shame struck him like a lightning bolt and he stumbled backwards away from his friend.

The blonde man took Sora by the shoulders and helped her up. "Tai leave Sora alone and go home to your _wife_." He nodded his head in the direction of the building behind Tai.

He turned around, Meiko was standing on their apartment's balcony and she looked just as furious as T.K. Tai felt like he was about to drop to his knees, once again he had acted without thinking. Meiko threw her laundry basket down to the ground and disappeared into their home, slamming the balcony door shut behind her.

A taxi pulled up next to them and T.K piled Sora inside, Tai heard the sound of the car doors slam shut. He heard the engine rev, pulling away but he didn't look back. He didn't dare. Instead he rushed home.

…

The coffee place next to the hospital was packed, Izzy struggled to get through the crowd bringing a tray of coffees over to the table where Mimi and Joe sat. They had just visited Sora, she had been in hospital a few days now and was being well looked after. Her mother was back in town too and with Matt returning next week things were finally looking up. The computer whiz slid the tray onto the table and sat down.

"Poor Sora…" Mimi looked sadly into her coffee.

"Don't worry she's in the best place," Izzy tried to comfort his wife. She pouted back at him.

"Hey! Listen you! I'm still mad at you for not telling me about Tai and Sora!"

Izzy began to sweat, "Come on, it's not really something to be gossiping about,"

"You really think that low of me? Like I enjoy all of this?" Mimi looked at her husband, brows firmly furrowed, she was worried sick about her friends. Worst of all, she felt she had to pick a side, which was impossible. Meiko had been distant from her, only replying back to messages a few words at a time, it hurt her. She guessed Meiko must have assumed she would be standing with Sora against her, which wasn't true. "I can't believe you sometimes you're just so rude!"

"Come on, we can't have you guys fighting too!" Joe looked between them. "Things are bad enough as they are!"

Izzy took a long sip of his coffee, knowing his friend was right but it couldn't be helped, the group was entwined together for better or worse. Truth be told he was afraid to talk about it, his feet were firmly planted in the Tai and Sora camp, they were his oldest and closest friends but there was no way he could say that out loud.

"Oh forget you!" Mimi grabbed her purse and stormed out.

"Jeez Izzy, nice going.." Joe facepalmed. "You know deep down Mimi isn't really like that."

The redhead returned his cup to the table. "The truth is, she keeps pushing me to talk about it and I'm worried I'll say something wrong."

"Eh? Like what exactly?" Joe was puzzled.

"I'm worried if I say something to defend Tai she'll go nuts. I know it's wrong to pick a side but you weren't there, Joe…" he trailed off, gazing out of the shop window where Mimi stood on the phone, to who he didn't know.

Joe nodded, "I get it." He picked up his coffee, "you know she just probably just needs to talk it out, she's close with Meiko and Sora, it must be horrible for her."

This had never occurred to him before. He had assumed Mimi was pushing him to reveal his stance just so she could tell him his was wrong, perhaps Joe was right, all she wanted was to _talk_ to him. "You're right. I'm being a jerk." Izzy watched his wife chat away, he suspected she was talking to work, he could tell by her expression. He turned back to Joe, "I hate to ask but what's your opinion on all of this, Joe?"

"To be honest, I think it'll blow over soon enough, they didn't _do _anything… and from a doctors point of view, I can't help but worry about Sora, she is having a really rough time right now. I'm glad Tai was there for her. There are so many complications that could arise with her ongoing sickness and stress not just for her but for the baby too." Joe started waving his hands around, "but you didn't hear that from me!"

Izzy pondered it over for a while. "We have to be careful. TK and Kari are suffering enough without the rest of us voicing our opinions." Joe nodded in agreement. "I better go talk to Mimi."

The doctor observed the couple outside making up outside for a while and then decided he would text T.K to give him a little update on his sister in laws status, he tapped away on his phone then waited for his friends to return.

"And?" Matt asked his wife to continue over the phone, he was wary of taking time out of work for another phone call but it couldn't be helped. Lucky for him no one had given him a hard time for it, well not to his face anyway. This was the first time he had managed to get ahold of Sora since her admittance to the hospital. "It's okay you can tell me," he said gently.

"She wants me to stay in the hospital for a whole _week_." She burst into tears.

"Please don't cry, Sora, it's okay, I think it's a good idea, don't you?" Sora yelled back at him in protest, Matt could tell she was about to lose her mind and start on a tirade about how she couldn't leave Akane and Hiro. Before she could, he jumped in, "Just this once, for me? You _need_ this and I hate to say this but you have to think about the baby now, Sora. It needs you to be well."

Sora wanted to fight back but the way things had been going lately, she knew she didn't have a choice. She was worrying everyone around her with her constant tears and vomiting. There wasn't enough in her to argue with Matt. Especially after what she had put him through the last few weeks.

"I know you're right."

"Atta girl!" Matt was relieved. These last few months had been torture and knowing she would be in a safe place, resting and being looked after day and night were the answer to his prayers. Next to being able to come home and look after her himself of course.

"Matt… What's going to happen when you come back? Will you stay with me? Even after the baby is born? Will you? And what about Tai?" Tears formed in the corner of her eyes but she remained calm. "You've been nothing but perfect to me this whole time but I need to know how you really feel."

He flinched, a horrible feeling creeped over his whole body, when Sora was hurting like this it consumed him. All he wanted was to keep everything positive and stress free for Sora but maybe what he was doing was wrong. For a moment he was speechless, he hung his head down to hide his tears, "Sora… Don't even say that." She heard a fist pound down onto a hard surface. "There's no chance in hell I'd leave you. I don't _care_ about what happened!"

"Is that really true?"

The astronaut sighed, her melancholy voice made him feel like something was twisting inside, but while he was away there was nothing he could do. "Listen Sora trust me when I say this, I love you and nothing will change that!"

Taking a deep breath in, she prepared herself to ask a hard question, "What about Tai? Will you forgive him too?" She could practically hear him pout over the phone.

"Come on!" The volume of his voice rose dramatically, he was practically yelling. "Don't ask me that!"

Sora's heart began to beat faster but she was finally getting somewhere with him, the Matt she knew. Not that he yelled at her, _ever_ in fact but the Matt she knew he was trying to hide from her. The Matt who she knew was hurt by all of this. The last thing she wanted was for him to keep bottling it up just for her sake, just because she was pregnant and he felt guilty about being away.

"I don't care about him!" He was seething.

Sitting up in her hospital bed, she leaned over and put her hand over her ear, "Yes you do. Matt, I know you, we hurt you and it's okay to be angry. You have to talk to him."

"I already have so what's the point in talking about it again, he knows what he did!"

"So you _did_ talk to him then? And what about me? I bet you yelled at him but you won't even tell _me _how you really feel! It's my fault too! Just tell me I'm a horrible person, Matt! I need you to say it!" Sora bit her bottom lip. All she got in return was Matt yelling out in frustration, it was almost primal. She remained silent for a while, frozen, waiting for him to talk but he didn't. "Why can you be mad at _him_ but not me!"

"Of course I'm mad." He relented.

Sora almost sighed with relief, "Good. Thank you. I'm fed up of you and everyone else tiptoeing around me all the time! I know what they're all really thinking!" She suddenly stopped, clasping her hand over her mouth. Using a free hand to rummage around she grabbed onto a bowl and began to vomit into it.

"Sora?!" Matt kept repeating until she responded. She apologised in between bouts of sickness. "Sora I'm sorry I didn't want to get mad at you!"

"I want you to be mad at me!" She coughed and groaned. "I'm fed up with you hiding your feelings from me!"

Matt gritted his teeth, overwhelmed by the situation. "Now isn't a good time. Sora! Please can we agree to put it behind us now? I can't promise that I can be friends with Tai again but I'm not willing to lose you over a stupid kiss that you said didn't even happen! We've got more important things to worry about!" He overhead a woman's voice in the background, a nurse in a panic saying she was going to grab another bowl,

"Maybe you're right…" She answered weakly.

Matt sighed heavily, "Believe me when I say that…" he had to pause as a lump rose into his throat, "I just. I just need you to be okay. I'll be there in a few days, just hold on. You'll see when I get back, everything will be fine, I promise."

…

Next chapter will be the last! 


	6. Chapter 6

Half an hour had passed but Tai's feet wouldn't take him any further then the steps up the front entrance to the hospital. Why had Joe told him to come? Kari had egged him on too. But why _him_? He'd love to be there for Sora but it was hurting his relationship with Meiko. Couldn't she manage just with the support of her family around her? He knew this wasn't true. Sora was a deeply private person, she liked to look after people, not have people look after her, after all. Joe had told him that she had been tearful, angry and not progressing well with her treatment for her sickness. To top it all off she was missing her children and Matt immensely. If he was the only one who could get through to her then… it couldn't be helped. According to Joe anyway. Meiko and his son were away in Shimane again, this time it wasn't because he was too busy to join them- he wasn't invited. She needed time to decompress and Tai understood that, he just hoped she would come back soon.

—

He slowly opened the door. There she was. Sitting on the edge of her hospital bed, facing away from him, staring out the window. Lunch left on the tray, untouched.

"Hey…" he began, his lip quivered. The redhead turned round with a surprised look, it looked like she said something but he didn't catch it. All he could focus on was the sadness in her eyes. Tai walked around the bed and pulled the chair round so he could face her, "Hey" he repeated, a melancholy smile spread across his face.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, fear set in her eyes. "Is it really okay?" Despite her concern, she was relieved to see him.

Tai ignored her, pulling the table towards them, "Aren't you hungry?"

"I'm afraid to eat it." She eyed the rice and soup carefully.

"Why?" He asked, beginning to unwrap and break apart her chopsticks.

Tears sprang to her eyes, "I'll be sick."

"Hmm." Tai picked up some rice with the chopsticks and dropped it into the soup. He repeated this action a few times before picking up the bowl and a spoon. "If you eat this slowly, it might be alright." Sora still looked hesitant. "Come on you have to try. For the baby." The man blew the spoon and then held it up to her mouth. "Trust me."

Sora gasped a little at the gentle, caring Tai sat before her. "Tai-" but his gaze was fixed, determined to feed her. She blushed and opened her mouth, eating the contents from the spoon. Sora wondered about Meiko but didn't dare to probe him again. She continued to eat, little by little. Finally after the soup was half done she put her hand up, "That's all I can manage."

"That's fine." Returning the bowl to the tray he couldn't help but give her a once over. Was she okay? Her bump was getting huge. That must be good, he thought but then again, the rest of her body looked as fragile as glass. Tai sat himself next to her on the bed. "Sora. Please tell me… how can I help you?"

His heart felt like it skipped a beat as Sora looked into his eyes, tears running down her cheeks, "Please just stay with me. I don't care what anyone says."

He nodded and put his arm around her, and gave her room to lean her head on his shoulder, "I'm not going anywhere." _As long as she feels this way, I'll never leave her side. _Was this Joe's plan all along? Was Tai the only one Sora would listen to? If so, he would do it, regardless of Meiko, this was too important to him. He moved his free hand to cradle her bump, "I'll help you get through this, Sora, just do me a favour and keep thinking about you and Matt's baby. It needs you to come out the other side of this."

Sora closed her eyes, soothed by the feel of his embrace, "I want to go home."

"I know." He smiled, glad she still had some stubbornness in her. "Do you feel like taking a walk? Maybe getting out of this room will cheer you up?"

She shook her head and laid down onto the returned to the chair next to her bed and crouched over, his elbows resting on the mattress next to her face. Sora smiled at his boyish posture, his chin rested on his forearm while he stroked hair away from her face with his free hand. Their faces were millimetres away but it felt comfortable. There was no romantic intent, there was no blushing or hearts racing this time. Just a sense of wanting to be there for each other. Sora reached for his hand and he reciprocated by taking it into his grip and holding it tight. "Tai?"

He smiled at her, his eyes bright, "Yeah?"

"I hate this." Her voice broke as she began to cry.

Tai's smile quickly faded away, he pressed his forehead against hers, trying anything, _anything_ that would dispel the sadness from her eyes. "Sora…"

"I don't want to feel like this anymore, it's too hard. It's…" She suddenly paused as Tai slid himself into her bed with her. They faced each other, both resting their heads on the single pillow, he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"It's okay, I'll stay with you, I'll stay, I'll stay with you, Sora." He whispered gently, "Just don't give up yet, hold on, he'll be here soon. Matt will be here and everything will be okay again."

Sora nodded, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, she clasped onto his shirt and tie tightly, as if for dear life. The baby moved around in between them, Tai felt it against his middle and he couldn't help but smile. "Keep fighting, Sora."

Tai awoke with a jump as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at his friend, Izzy was stood over him, his brow furrowed. He pointed towards the door, signalling him to go outside Sora's room with him, Tai nodded. Not wanting to wake Sora, Tai slowly removed his arms from around her and put the covers over her before gently getting out of the bed and joining Izzy outside.

Tai shut the door quietly behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question. Tai." He crossed his arms. "What about _Meiko_?"

Tai looked away, unsure how to respond. "She's in Shimane."

Izzy sighed, "That doesn't really explain _why_ you're here."

"Look, Sora needs me… Once Matt is back, I'll be out of the picture, I swear, but for now I have to stay with her."

Izzy kept his gaze on Tai for a moment, then relaxed. "Alright. I'll stay here too then."

"What?" The spiky haired man asked in surprise. "Why?"

"Because you need _me_ that's why." Izzy said with resolve. The pair walked back into the room, Izzy pulled up a chair on the opposite side to Tai's and began to fumble around in his laptop bag for his computer. Tai couldn't help but smile at his friend's kindness. He stretched back into his own chair and put his arms behind his head, closing his eyes.

"And stay out of that bed."

"Mmhmm…" Tai opened one eye and peeked at Izzy, to see whether he had gotten away with his non response, response. Unfortunately for him Izzy was staring straight at him.

"Tai! I'm serious! Matt will be here in a couple of days."

He sighed, "I will, I will…" Tai laid back in his chair again and closed his eyes.

—-

Izzy took a break from his work, he closed the top of the laptop and glanced at the clock on the wall. Midnight. _Crap! _He rummaged around in his pocket for his cell phone to check in with Mimi. She was probably worried he hadn't come home yet. However, he was unsure what exactly he was going to tell her that wouldn't make her freak out and as difficult as the situation was he wasn't going to leave Tai and Sora alone. Izzy didn't know why he felt he had to be there, hell, if these two wanted to throw away their marriages why was that any of his business? ...Actually, he knew deep down that wasn't what they wanted, he totally understood why Tai wanted to be there. It wasn't some sort of illicit affair, Tai just had a hard time leaving a friend in trouble. He sighed, but did they really have to be in bed sleeping together when he walked in? Looking so innocent and cute together?

Before he could finish his thought, Sora disturbed him, "Izzy?! What are you doing here? Nevermind I have to pee..!" She got out of bed and hurried out of the room. Izzy waved at her with an understanding gesture, he had no idea what he would tell Sora but right now he had to call Mimi. Before standing up, he glanced over at Tai, who was still fast asleep in a chair on the other side of the bed, his head was resting on Sora's mattress, face buried in his arms. Izzy finally stood up from his chair but froze when he caught a glimpse of the figure at the doorway, his cell phone fell to the floor and because of his state of shock he was barely able to make words, only sounds. "W-Wah!"

It was Matt. He was here. Earlier than planned.

The sound of his duffle bag hitting the floor echoed throughout the room. Izzy trembled when he saw the look on Matt's face. He was furious. Matt began to march over to the sleeping Tai but Izzy blocked his path, "Matt! Just hold on a second!" But the blond haired man pushed past and grabbed onto the back of Tai's shirt with both hands, dragging him off of the bed.

"_Shit! _Matt, wait!" Izzy pleaded, aghast at what his friend was doing. It was finally happening.

Tai yelped, he had suddenly been woken up and now he was flying across the room. He had no idea what was happening until he had been picked up again by the collar and was face to face with Matt. "What are you DOING HERE?!" Matt yelled into Tai's face, his teeth grit together.

"What the hell, Matt?! Get OFF ME!" Tai pushed his friend in his chest in an attempt to break free but Matt still held on.

"I told you to stay away from HER!" Tai winced, he felt Matt release one of his hands from his shirt and knew this was the moment he was going to get punched. The punch he knew he had coming for weeks now.

Izzy saw his chance and quickly intervened, he rushed in between the pair and grabbed a hold of Matt's grip on Tai, trying to physically pull him off of Tai. "Matt!" He looked at his blond friend in the eyes, "_Think_ about what you're doing! What about Sora?!" Matt met eyes with Izzy and then he glanced to the doorway where Sora was standing, she stood with her hand over her mouth in complete shock. Matt felt like his entire body had been stung, he looked to Izzy with dread in his eyes. "You have to _stop!" _Izzy continued. Matt released his grip of Tai and his eyes slammed shut for a moment, his inner turmoil was clear for everyone to see. Tai stumbled backwards, hitting the wall behind him. As the gap got bigger between the two, Izzy stepped in between and grabbed Matt by the shoulders. "Don't fight him. Think about Sora and your kids… I know you don't really wanna do this." His grip was firm. Matt's relaxed a little but his expression still twisted with torment. "It's not worth it, right? _Right_, Matt?" Izzy gripped tightly onto Matt's shoulders and he didn't dare let him look away, he had to make sure this wasn't going to continue. There was no way he was going to allow his thirty something year old friends have an actual physical fight in a hospital.

Matt's eyes filled up with tears and he nodded to Izzy. "Right…" Izzy breathed a sigh of relief, he had successfully reached Matt. Matt looked away and saw Tai crouching down on the floor, also in tears. "Well? What do you have to say about it then, Tai?!" He choked through his words. "Did you enjoy yourself?!"

"No!" Tai spat out through his tears.

"Did it feel good playing the knight in shining armour to my wife while I've been away?! Huh?!" Tears fell down his cheeks, his fists were tightly clenched at his sides.

"No." Tai repeated, pulling his knee up to his chest and hung his head down. He refused to give him a proper explanation, he knew there was little point. He knew he was in the wrong for going back to Sora's side.

"Everyday I worried and I _worried_ about Sora. I love her to pieces and left her to _you_ and _you_ totally _betrayed_ me, man! What do you have to say for yourself?!" Tai didn't respond. "The last 24 hours I've been travelling non stop across the world to be back here for her and here YOU are, sleeping at her side instead of ME."

Matt's body jolted as he felt arms around him, it was Sora. As soon as he looked down at her, he crumbled. Matt fell into her arms and sobbed. She held onto him as he fell onto his knees. "I'm sorry Sora! I'm sorry! I wasn't here!" He cried into the nape of her neck.

She gripped onto him tightly, "It's okay, Matt, it's okay." Tai watched as Sora's persona totally changed as she soothed her husband, her voice was very gentle but there was something different… a glimpse of her old self seemed to return, she was confident and strong. The old Sora seemed to have returned a little and Tai was glad to see it.

Izzy grabbed hold of Tai's arm and dragged him up. "Come on, Tai." He said under his breath. "Let's go."

Tai didn't want to go, he didn't want to leave things like this, he wanted to tell Matt he was sorry, he wanted to tell him that it wasn't what he thought, he wanted to fix everything but now was not the time. Matt and Sora were finally together again and his usefulness had come to an end. There wasn't a part of him that resented Sora, he would do it all over again if he could.

—

Izzy and Tai sat on the steps on the hospital entrance as they waited for a taxi to arrive. Their surroundings were quiet, not a car in the street, not a person walking around.

Tai made a fist with his hand. "I've really fucked up."

"You haven't, Tai, she needed you…" Izzy put a hand onto his friends shoulder.

"Do you really believe that?" Tai looked at him in disbelief.

The redhead took in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Yes, I do. I mean… did you guys maybe got a little too close? Absolutely. But ultimately, I think you did the right thing." He stood up as the taxi pulled into the drop off area in front of them. "I don't think Sora would have coped without you."

The pair began to walk towards their taxi and as Izzy reached to open the door, Tai looked at him with complete sincerity in his eyes. "Izzy… What do I do now?"

"I think you should go to Shimane and see Meiko."

Tai took a moment before getting into the taxi, a moment passed as he thought it over and then he gave his friend nod. "I will."

—-

On an early and bright morning, Tai was dragging his feet to Odaiba Park train station, unfortunately the events of the last few days had caused him a few restless nights, his eyes felt tired and heavy in the bright Autumn sun. Sora still weighed on his mind as he dragged his feet along the busy street, even though he knew Sora was in good hands, he still hated the feeling of not being in the loop. Not many of his friends had been in touch with him either, save Izzy. He threw his duffle bag over his shoulder and quickly went over his travel itinerary on his cell phone, he was on his way to the airport to catch a plane to Shimane to try and piece his marriage back together. Meiko did seem happy that he was coming but of course she wouldn't say it explicitly.

As he walked past the row of shops on the way to the station, his couldn't help but stop in his tracks as he saw Matt and his children exit the supermarket in front of him. Matt was carrying Akane on his shoulders and holding Hiro up by his waist in one hand and shopping bags in the other. Tai felt a little bad for him, he certainly had his hands full but being a father was something that always suited Matt very well, despite having two young children hanging off of him, he looked completed unphased and as cool as a cucumber. Tai winced as he saw Matt spot him. To his surprise, he didn't give him a look of _complete_ venom, there was a softness to his moody expression. Akane was pointing to go towards Uncle Tai.

Tai couldn't help himself, he desperately wanted to resolve things, maybe now was his chance, he approached Matt. "Hey man, do you need some help?"

The blond rolled his eyes. "Are you for real?" but was soon distracted by Akane kicking her legs on his shoulders in excitement, "Uncle Tai! My Daddy is back!"

Tai beamed at her, "He sure is!"

"And soon I'll have a little sister…! But _my_ grandpa says not to worry because there's no way she'll cry as much as Hiro!" She continued with a very bright smile on her face. Hiro seemed to be too busy pulling at his father's dog tag to notice.

"Don't be mean, Akane." Matt sighed but quickly turned his attention back to his friend. "Hey man, I'm sorry about the other night. Despite how I feel about the whole situation I shouldn't have lost my temper like that…"

Tai shook his head, "Don't apologise." He said with grace, despite the fact he was completed shocked he had even received one. "I deserved it, look, I wasn't trying anything weird with Sora, I was just-"

"It's alright, I get it." Matt interrupted him, "I know you meant well _somewhere_ in that stupid head of yours."

The spiky haired man furrowed his brows, "You mean that?"

"Yeah." Matt looked away, he was still hurt but something inside him was spurring him on to be the bigger man. Tai went to take his groceries from him as a friendly gesture but Matt pulled away. "I don't need your help, Tai."

"Come on, don't be stubborn!"

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" The blond began to move away, "Stop trying to be the hero all the time and go see Meiko. That's where you're going isn't it?

Tai furrowed his brows, "How did you know?"

"T.K told me."

"I guess Kari must have told him…" Tai looked away embarrassed.

"I'm serious, Tai. Go be with her for goodness sakes. Our family have taken up enough of your time already." Matt pulled Hiro closer to him, "We don't need you."

Tai felt a lump in his throat, his friends tone of voice sounded harsh but it was his way of showing he cared. His eyes filled with tears as he thought about his immediate trip across the country. "I want to but… Meiko's already put Shinya in an elementary school in Shimane. I don't know if I have a-"

"Yes you do," Matt turned and looked back at his friend, "Just go and bring her back already!"

Matt's words gave him the strength he needed, Tai picked his bag back off the ground and made his way to the station.

—

When Matt finally got a moment to himself, he took his chance to call his brother. He had been busy cleaning that afternoon, preparing for Sora's return. The kids and him had made a real mess the last couple of days but it made him appreciate the hard work Sora had been doing for them all while he was gone. Cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry and taking care of the kids was exhausting but he was determined to give his and Sora's family a break now he was back, at least for a couple of days. Just as he was about to ring T.K, the doorbell rang.

"T.K what are you doing here? I told you I've got everything under control here!"

T.K smiled, "Yeah that's what Sora kept saying…" Matt grimaced at his brother's quick remark.. "Anyway, I thought we could just hang out for a while."

"Yeah I guess that's fine, I was just about to make dinner. Come in." Matt lead the way into the kitchen and T.K sat down at the kitchen table. He turned towards the living area, the kids were busy watching TV.

"Wow, Hiro is just sitting there watching TV! He isn't crying!" His mouth was agape.

Matt started to chop vegetables, "I guess he's had a lot of growing up to do while Sora's been in the hospital. It's good, in a way." He sighed.

"Yeah, poor little guy, he is so attached to her but I could tell it was really wearing her down." T.K continued to stare at Hiro in disbelief, remembering all the lengths he had gone to to keep the little boy happy every time he babysat, which mostly involved carrying him around constantly.

"By the way, there's something I need to talk to you about." Matt scraped the vegetables from the chopping board into a frying pan with his knife. "You don't need to fight my corner anymore, I've dealt with Tai and I just want to put it behind us now."

T.K quickly turned his head round, "Wait, WHAT?!"

"Listen, T.K, I've been angry, we talked it out and now I'm done with it." He sighed, " "I'm being serious! I'm sorry you felt like you had to defend me while I was gone." Matt avoided his brother's gaze, he stared down at his kitchen counter, "And plus, I know it's affecting you and Kari too, Joe told me all about it. What the hell happened, you two know better than to get involved in our crap."

"I don't know… Kari took _his_ side I guess, the whole thing just made me so mad. You weren't here to defend yourself, you know?" T.K leant his head on his hand, reflecting on the past couple of months. "So I guess… I fought _for_ you."

Matt sighed again, "I get it, man, I do… but you've done enough for me while I've been gone. You need to look after yourself and your own family now." He stirred the vegetables with a pair of chopsticks. "Promise me you'll make up with Kari?"

"Don't worry I will… so… did you punch him?" T.K grinned at his brother.

Matt pouted, "Almost. I'm not proud of it though."

T.K couldn't help but chuckle, "I almost punched him too but I could never pull it off like you, brother!"

Matt pointed his chopsticks at him, "What's that supposed to mean?!" T.K couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter, making his brother mad always gave him a good laugh.

—

Christmas time meant parties and that gave the Digi destined a good excuse to meet up and celebrate. Child free too, except Sora and Matt's newborn daughter, of course. Matt had their new baby in a carrier, sleeping peacefully against his chest. As they approached the front door to Mimi and Izzy's place, Sora pulled at him gently for him to stop walking.

"Are you sure you want to do this? It might still be awkward for us to be all together in the same room again…" She looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

Matt gave her a reassuring smile, "Come on, I told you things are fine between me and Tai now."

"Well that's great for _you _guys." Sora grumbled and pushed her way past Matt into the apartment. Matt's face dropped. Things _were _fine now, right? What did she mean? As he followed her inside, he got his answer as he watched Sora rush past Tai without a word. Things were fine between him and Tai but not between the two of _them _or even the three of them. It hurt him that Sora had lost a friend, sure it was kind of their own fault but Matt didn't want anymore suffering. Besides, Matt had a tendency to blame himself for the entire situation, the guilt of leaving his wife behind for his career still plagued him.

"Oh my God! Look how cute Matt looks carrying the baby!" Mimi exclaimed, fawning over Sora, squeezing her friend tightly.

Kari approached Matt and asked if she could hold her niece, he nodded and carefully loosened the baby carrier and gave the baby over to Kari. She carried him over to T.K, "I want another one!" she exclaimed.

T.K blushed putting down his beer, "It's been a _long _time don't you think!" He referred to his daughter being almost ten years old.

The youngest Digidestined smiled down at the baby, "But it'll be different this time… we were so young back then…"

Mimi gasped as the memory came flooding back but her shock soon turned into a sneaky grin, "Now _that _was an interesting time! Tai was maaaaaad!"

"Guess the drama never stops around here." Izzy muttered under his breath, disapproving of the gossiping going on in the room.

T.K laughed, "You're one to talk! Remember when Joe and Mimi dated while you guys were broken up in college!"

The doctor went bright red, "Can we not talk about that please?!"

"This group is so weird. How you you guys can't stop getting involved with each other is beyond me." Izzy said nonchalantly, not bothered by the memory.

"You're one to talk!" Joe exclaimed and pointed accusingly at his friend, "We all know you used to make out with Yolei in the computer club room in high school!"

It was Izzy's turn to blush, "You guys… knew about that?!" He stammered. Everyone burst into laughter but Matt and Tai remained silent. Matt watched Sora as she walked off onto the balcony and shut the door behind her. She must have been feeling the same way, hurt and ashamed. Tai noticed too and gave Matt a look as she stormed out.

—-

Sora took in a deep breath of the cold air, this was not her idea of a fun time, reminiscing about all the stupid mistakes of the past. Except her situation didn't feel like the past yet, it still cut her deep inside. She jumped as she heard the balcony door shut behind her, Tai and Matt appeared on either side of her.

"Shall we talk?" Matt began.

"Talk about what? You guys seem to be getting on fine now, so what's the problem?" Sora shot back.

Tai looked to Matt, completely helpless and at a lost as to what to say. Matt gave him a firm look, they had to try, no matter how awkward the situation was. "Maybe we can settle this between the three of us then?" Matt offered, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Sora just stared off into the distance. "I doubt it."

The spiky haired brunette was very nervous, he could tell Sora was mad. "Sora, you're right, we have put this behind us but we want _you_ to do that too. You don't have to pick a side anymore. We're both here for you."

"But it's not fair, you guys get to yell and beat each other up then just like that you're friends again. I don't get to have that. I lost _my_ friend." Sora said, glancing at Tai.

Matt nodded at Tai and squeezed his wife's shoulder, "I'll be back in a minute."

Sora gasped, "Eh?" She didn't understand why he was leaving her alone with Tai but he just smiled at her. "You two talk. I'll be inside."

Once the blond had shut the door behind him, Tai turned to Sora. "Listen… I wanted to call. I just didn't want to come between you two again." Tai furrowed his brows, looking at her straight in the eyes.

"You could have just talked to me. You know we were friends first, remember?" Sora looked up at him with big, sad eyes. "I'm sorry I know there's a lot more to it then that… Meiko-"

Tai gave her a sad smile, "Hey don't even worry about that..."

"I know you don't want to burden me with your problems but I've seen her and Shinya back in Odaiba again, you guys are okay now, right?"

The man just nodded and tried to give her his best smile, "Of course we are!" Sora's face turned to worry but she didn't feel she could push him any further.

Matt came back on to the balcony, "I see you guys have remained a safe distance while I was gone!" He grinned, joking around.

"Very funny!" Sora rolled her eyes.

"See, I told you it was just the pregnancy pheromones, Sora!" Tai began to laugh. She blushed.

"Shut up!" Sora hid behind her hands. Tai kept laughing until Matt gave him a friendly smack around the head. Izzy poked his head out of the balcony door and told them to come in, as dinner was being served. Sora obliged but Tai turned back to look at the night sky. Izzy stepped out do the apartment onto the balcony and Matt remained too.

"So, are we all friends again?" He asked carefully.

"Yup." Matt shoved his hands into his pockets, starting to feel the cold.

"And you and Meiko still getting along okay? I couldn't help but notice her absence tonight." Izzy glanced at Tai.

"Honestly? We had a huge fight before we were supposed to leave. I'm still not sure if it's going to work out between us." His gaze remained fixed on the landscape in front of him. "Maybe it wasn't what happened with Sora that started this.. it was our relationship all along that was weak."

Izzy frowned. "Do you really believe that?"

Tai turned to face his friend, "I'm not sure. I'm trying, for my son. I have to keep her happy or she might go back to Shimane with him again. I don't want to lose him."

"You sound like you're giving up." Matt crossed his arms and let out a heavy sigh.

"Maybe we're just not as strong as you and Sora are." Tai leaned over the balcony, resting his chin on his arms.

Matt let out a sarcastic laugh, "You think we had it easy after everything that happened?! Come on, man, you gotta be kidding me." He looked up to the sky, "You know just because I came back it didn't make everything better. She was still sick and depressed. Some days she still is depressed… We worked hard to get back to where we were but that's because we love each other. You do still love her right?" Matt looked him directly in the eye.

"I… Uh… Yeah…" Tai winced and quickly looked away from his friends gaze, hoping he wouldn't notice how unconvincing his answer was.

Matt put his hand on Tai's shoulder, "Then quit moping around." His voice was stern, he wanted to shake Tai out of his funk.

"He's right, Tai." Izzy chimed in.

"If Meiko knows you're only sticking around for Shinya, how is that going to make her happy?" Matt continued, his brow furrowed. "Go home and bring her back here. Tell her you want her here with you."

Mimi couldn't help herself but eavesdrop. "Tell her we _all_ want her here!" She spoke with such hope that Tai immediately gave in and nodded. Mimi's eyes welled up and she clasped her hands together in prayer, "Yes!" Izzy smiled at her. "Now we can all hang out again!"

Tai gave his friends a weak smile then followed the group back into the apartment, he couldn't help but notice Sora giving him a smile as he walked past, smiling back at her he felt his stomach twist into a knot. _I miss her. _He made his way to the front door and began to put his shoes on, ready to go and reconcile with his wife. He watched as his own hand reached for the door handle, he felt as if he were moving in slow motion. As his hand was about to grab onto the door handle, he stopped and let it fall back down to his side and his heart began to race.

_Do I… love Meiko? Do I still love her?_

He gasped as a hand slid past him and opened the door for him. It was Matt. "Here you go." The look on his face said everything, he was challenging Tai. Was he going to go or not? Tai looked away again, Matt could see the uncertainty in Tai's face but decided to give him a hard shove him out of the door anyway. Tai looked back at him, still unsure.

"You'll be fine." He smiled at him from the doorway. "Now get out of here."

Tai nodded and went. He went to get Meiko. Despite his feelings, despite not knowing whether it was going to really work out for them both, he'd give it one last shot. The last few months had been the hardest of his whole life but maybe Matt was right… with hard work maybe it could work out.

Matt leaned his head out the door and spotted Tai approaching Meiko in the distance. The spiky haired man put his arms around his wife. Satisfied, he smiled and closed it behind him, then gladly took a seat next to Sora on the sofa, she was feeding the baby. He laid his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek, whispering that he loved her more then anything and she whispered it back.

Authors note:

So I ended up writing another chapter after this! Oops! Turns out it's not complete after all. Should be uploaded later this week, still editing and it's hard to let go of! Thank you for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

It was a cold January afternoon and Sora stepped off the bus, she wrapped her burgundy scarf tightly around her neck to protect her from the cold. Luckily she had thick duffle coat on, however she regretted the choice to wear a skirt and tights as she could still feel the cold through them. She gave her little ponytail and quick tighten and began to walk in the direction of her home, back to Matt and the kids. As she made her way past a row of shops she saw the familiar visage is of a spiky haired man coming out the convenience store in front of her. They hadn't seen much over the past couple of months, save Izzy and Mimi's Christmas party. They had tried to resolve things that night but in reality it still hadn't felt the same between them. She called his name and gave him a small wave.

"Sora!" Tai said with a surprised look on his face, "How- How are you?" He asked carefully, stumbling over his words.

"I'm good!" She smiled awkwardly, scratching her cheek lightly. "How about you?"

He attempted a big smile, "I'm great! What are you doing out and about? I thought you'd be at home with the baby?"

"I had counselling today." She glanced towards the direction of the bus stop. "It's not far." Sora understood why he had asked, her baby was only a few months old but Matt had insisted she returned to counselling as he felt she not only would benefit from talking to someone but she needed time to herself once in a while. She was never gone more than a couple of hours.

"It's great you're going, Sora, is it… helping?"

Sora nodded and repositioned her hand bag on her shoulder. "Yeah it is… I think so anyway!" Silence fell between the pair and Sora could see that he was struggling to maintain his smile. "Is everything okay, Tai?"

"Yeah what do you mean?" He said furrowing his brows and looking away, a little surprised that she had seen right through him.

Her expression turned to worry. "You look like you're carrying the world on your shoulders right now."

"I actually... I… wanted to text you or call... I'm not sure why though." She noticed his voice was a little shaky as he talked, it worried her.

Sora crossed her arms and gave him a stern look, "We're friends, isn't that reason enough?"

Tai sighed, "It doesn't feel the same now though."

"No… you're right." Sora looked down at her shoes. "I suppose it never will be." Another moment of silence fell between them before Sora began again. "Do you wanna go somewhere and talk? I have a little time…"

"No, it's okay, really-"

"No come on, let's go for a walk. I'll text Matt and tell him, it won't be a problem." With that Sora reached into her bag and got out her cellphone. As she tapped away at the screen, Tai contemplated all the ways he could turn her down.. _I can't be alone with you. Why are you so insistent? _She interrupted his thoughts with a cheerful, "Ready?" She smiled up at him and he smiled back, unable to protest, she had won.

They walked along the river in Odaiba and Sora smiled as they reached a familiar underpass, the bridge where the Digidestined used to meet as teenagers to have their secret meetings, it felt nostalgic.

"Remember when we used to meet here and talk about saving the world?" Sora said gripping onto her coffee cup for warmth.

Tai gave a small smile, "Yeah…" Sora frowned at the sadness in voice, she sighed and leaned against the concrete of the wall under the bridge, gently blowing on her coffee. Tai leaned next to her, looking down at the ground, gripping onto his own coffee cup. Sora thought she could see him shaking, without warning she grasped onto his arm. "What's happened? Just tell me." Tai gasped the sudden physical contact, dropping his coffee cup to the ground, he then felt his world crumbling around him, her touch had sent him over the edge. He began to cry.

"What's going on, Tai?" She asked again gently, she felt her chest hurt as she watched him slide down the wall to the ground and sob.

He hid his face in his forearm and pulled his knees to his chest. "I'm sorry, why... is it... always like this?" He struggled to get his words out. Sora quickly dropped her handbag from her shoulder and placed her coffee down to crouch in front of him, taking a grip onto his knees. "Did you have a nice Christmas?" The spiky haired man barely got his words out through his poor attempt to change the subject, he was terrified where the conversation might lead if he told her what was really going on.

Sora furrowed her brows, confused at what Tai was trying to do, "Christmas?! Tai, please just tell me what's wrong! Is… Meiko leaving?" The man in front of her took in a sharp breath and broke down completely, he sobbed and sobbed and showed no signs of stopping. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around him, it felt as if her own heart was breaking as she listened to him cry. Whispering to him gently that everything would be okay, she rested her head against his, trying to soothe him. The sound of the rain beginning to fall caught Sora's attention, she glanced beyond the cover of the bridge and watched it fall down hard onto the pavement.

"I'm so afraid..." He cried like a child into her arms, "She's going to take Shinya away again!"

She squeezed him a little tighter, tears of her own began to form in her eyes, blurring her vision. "It's all my fault… I'm so sorry." She ran her hand through his hair. "Just tell me what I can do to fix this!"

"Just stay with me please." His voice was muffled but she heard him loud and clear, she felt his arms wrap around her as he dropped his knees down from his chest so he could bring her closer to him. Sora burrowed her face into his shoulder and took a deep breath in, his familiar scent filling her senses. "Sora, she knows, she knows that I-" He quickly stopped himself as he felt her sit back up and break the embrace, he saw tears stain her cheeks. She shook her head, telling him to stop before he could finish his sentence. "I'm sorry, she won't stay with me unless I'm away from you. From everyone." He looked into her eyes and gently wiped the tears from her face away. "I don't know what to do.."

"You should be with her, Tai. Don't think about me anymore, okay?" She pleaded with him, cupping his face in her hands.

Tai gave her a sad smile. "I might be moving to Shimane soon… I'm sorry I didn't know how to tell you." She gasped, the seriousness of the situation between him and Meiko suddenly hit her, she felt awful. The thought of Tai being so far away hurt and frustrated her. He flinched as he suddenly felt two fists pound against his chest.

"It's all your stupid fault!" Sora belted out in anger, sobbing through her words.

Tai took hold of her hands and pulled them to his chest, "Sora…"

Unable to look at him in the face, Sora shut her eyes tight, "Why did you let this happen?! I was happy when we were just friends! Now everything is all messed up and wrong!"

"Wait hold on! You can't just put this on me, Sora!" He looked down at her and spoke with confidence. She averted his gaze, feeling her cheeks getting hot. "You were the one who happily leaned on me when Matt wasn't there, remember? Tell me.. did you really

feel nothing for me? Was I just a replacement husband for you?"

Sora suddenly pulled her hands away from his grip and leaned away from Tai. "You mean did I _use_ you?" She shot back at him without missing a beat.

"I have to know the truth." He reached out to touch her but she batted his hand away.

"Stop it, Tai!"

He reached out again and this time managed to get a hold of her hand, squeezing it tight. "Do you love me Sora? Or was it all in my head?" He asked, looking her dead in the eyes. "What you say and what you do are completely different, I don't know what to believe."

"I can't do this, Tai." Sora had had enough, she quickly removed her hand from his grip, stood up and grabbed her handbag and began to walk away from him. She clumsily took out her fold down umbrella and it took her several attempts to get it up through her blurry tear filled eyes as she made her way into the rain away from the cover of the bridge. Tai's heart was racing, a part of him couldn't believe what had spilled out of him but the other part knew he couldn't contain it any longer. He stumbled as he ran over to her, just about managing to grab onto her shoulder. She stopped and turned to face him, the rain began to soak through his flannel shirt on the top of his shoulders.

He winced as she looked up at him, she was crying. She positioned her umbrella so he was shielded from the rain. "I can't leave this unfinished, Sora. I feel broken."

"Being with each other won't fix that Tai!" She belted at him.

"Sora, I-"

Sora shook her head, unable to hear anymore. "Go with her please. Go with Meiko and forget about me!" Her voice was shaky as she spoke, she was almost hyperventilating.

"I can't!" He raised his voice in frustration. "Just tell me, are you happy, Sora? With him?"

"Of course I am! I love him! I can't do what you're asking of me, Tai!"

"What about me? What about us?" He demanded.

She grabbed onto his hand tightly as she began to plead with him. "You're not happy right now. You're searching for something to fill the void, it _can't_ be just be about me."

"It is… Sora… I…" He looked at her, his eyes glazed over as they filled with tears again, "I love you."

Sora gasped and her mouth fell open upon hearing those words. The sound of the rain pelting against Sora's umbrella filled the momentary silence between them.

"Sora, I'm not asking you to leave Matt. I just want to know that I'm not crazy, there is something between us, right?"

She finally understood what he wanted from her, Sora felt her body relaxed as the pressure from Tai lifted from her. He was being sincere, he truly just wanted her reassurance. She took a hold of his face with both hands, "I love you, I do, Tai. How could you ever doubt that?" Tai's eyes widened, surprised by her admission, he responded by wrapping both arms around her and holding her tightly. "Tai, every moment we shared together while Matt was gone meant _everything_ to me, okay? You were never just a replacement, you were _you_, you helped me so much words cannot express."

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her. It was a long and gentle kiss on the lips, something about it felt pure. It meant thank you, it meant goodbye and it meant they understood each other.

When they broke apart, Tai pulled her back into his arms, he held her like he never wanted to let go, the umbrella fell from Sora's hand and onto the ground as he squeezed her tightly. She nuzzled her face into his shoulder, tears falling freely from her eyes and running onto his shirt along with the rain. "Thank you for everything." She told him, her voice cracking slightly.

"I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat." He replied, giving her a hard kiss onto her cheek. Loving her hurt like hell, knowing they would never be together, knowing they would both return to their partners as if nothing had ever happened, it stung but Tai knew in his heart, he would always treasure the time they had spent together, regardless of the outcome.


	8. Chapter 8

Sora felt numb walking back to her home, her body felt heavy and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't walk any faster. Her baby needed her home, her body was telling her she needed to be home to feed her baby, her shirt felt wet beneath her coat. _I'm such a stupid idiot_. She picked up the pace, knowing she had no choice but to hurry, she had been away too enough.

Running up the stairs she burst into her apartment, hurriedly kicking off her shoes and throwing off her coat. "I'm sorry I stayed out too long!" She found her family in the living room in front of the television; Matt had their baby peaceful sleeping against his chest, while Akane and Hiro were eating snacks together on the floor. Sora rushed over and sat down next to her husband, taking the baby from him and opening her top to feed her.

"Hey relax, you weren't gone that long!" Matt did his best to greet her warmly but beneath the surface he worried. His wife looked like she had been crying; her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. A part of him didn't want to know why she had met up with Tai and come home crying, he didn't want to upset her or disrupt their life again. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as he watched her nurse their baby. The sound of the bath chiming disrupted his thoughts and he ushered the kids to the bath. It would have to wait.

Sora didn't dare look him in the eye as Matt and her children left the living room, she was too ashamed. She returned the baby to rest against her chest after she was done feeding and as soon as she heard the door close, Sora burst into tears. She cried long, hard sobs that she couldn't control or contain.

Unexpectedly Matt returned to the room and took the baby from her, laying her into a small bouncer beside him. "Sora, why did you have to meet him today? Why?" He sighed and sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her.

She could barely stifle her tears, "I'm sorry!" She buried her face into her hands, still unable to look at him.

He furrowed his brows, "Please tell me this is done now. I…" Matt paused as he felt a lump in his throat, "I can't take any more of this stuff with Tai." He reached over to take her hands away from her face, prompting her to look at him.

"It is." She nodded at him, sniffing and wiping her tears away with the back of her cardigan, attempting to calm herself.

"Sora, I'm-" Matt stopped himself as their baby began to squirm and cry, he leant down to pick up the baby and cradled her. "I'm starting to feel like I'm really losing you."

She shook her head with determination and quickly wiped another falling tear from her cheek, "You're not."

He raised an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

Sora nodded again "Yes. I promise." She opened her arms out to take the baby from him, "I think she's still hungry, I better take her."

"Alright, I'm going to check on those two, the bathroom is probably soaking wet right now." Matt made his way into the bathroom and got his children out of the bath and ready for bed.

Akane and Hiro were now sound asleep, Matt crept out of the room, holding his breath so he wouldn't make a sound. As he closed the door to the children's bedroom, he stopped in his tracks to think things over before he went to talk to Sora again. Matt could feel his temper began to rise as he pictured Sora when she had come home, hair soaked and her face blotchy from crying. Why did Tai have to keep doing this? Sora was vulnerable enough as it is… what the hell happened to make her so upset? Shaking his head he tried to tell himself not do anything stupid, Sora was to blame too but… things would be different if she hadn't been so down and dealing with a new baby right now. Would she be this emotional and thoughtless? Tai's seemingly doomed marriage and her depression seemed to be colliding together into a storm of destruction.

Matt slammed his eyes shut tight, he tried to resist flying into a rage as best he could but he couldn't contain himself any longer. He reached into his pocket and called Tai.

Izzy and Joe ran as fast as they could towards the park where Tai said he was meeting Matt. The pair had been enjoying a quiet drink in a bar on the waterfront when Izzy had got the call from Sora.

"I can't believe this is happening again!" Joe panted as they approached the entrance of the park.

Izzy furrowed his brows, "Hey you weren't even there the first time!"

The pair stopped in their tracks as they spotted Matt just in front of them, he had just gotten there by the looks of things. Tai leaned against the back of a bench, awaiting his fate. He didn't move as Matt quickly moved in. "So are you actually going to punch me this time?" Tai asked, venom seethed in his voice. He couldn't help himself; he was mad, mad that Sora had chosen Matt yet again and every time he seemed to pay for it. It wasn't fair.

"No, Tai," Matt gritted his teeth together, desperate to keep his composure, "But if that's what it takes for you to leave Sora alone, then yes... but I'm sure Meiko wouldn't appreciate you coming home with a black eye. In fact, I'm sure that would give her the courage to actually leave you once and for all." He retaliated.

"Yeah it probably would." Tai laughed despite himself, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Go on then." He looked at Matt directly in the eyes. "If it'll make you feel better, then do it."

"You're even stupider than I thought! You'd really throw your marriage away like that?!" Matt remained unmoved, he stood clenching his fists, trying to hold in his rage for Sora's sake. "And what did you call these guys here for? Back up?"

Izzy cleared his throat, "No as a matter of fact, Sora called me. She's at home crying her eyes out because you left without a word!" He knew this would hit Matt's weak spot, he hoped it was enough to make him back off completely. "Now enough of this both of you, you're grown men for God's sake!"

Joe raised his brows in surprise, "Wow, Izzy you're really good at this…" he muttered under his breath so only Izzy could hear him.

"Fortunately I've had plenty of practice." He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Turning his attention to Izzy, Matt barked at him, "If you're here to help then please go stay with Sora." Joe raised a hand, signalling that he would go and took off in the direction of the Ishida apartment.

"So why did you call me here, Matt?" Tai stood up from leaning on the bench and took a few steps towards the blond. "Are you going to punch me or not?"

Matt moved swiftly and grabbed Tai by the collar of his shirt, "I need to know." He growled, "What you did to upset her today."

"Listen, man." Tai grimaced as he was pulled in close to Matt against his will, taking a hold of his friend's shoulders he continued, "It's done. I wanted to know how she feels about me and don't worry she chose you." The hardened expression Tai had been putting on as a defensive strategy softened for a moment.

"Where the hell do you get off confessing you're stupid feelings to her?!" Matt released his grip on Tai, pushing him away from him in disgust. "So, you finally admitted it then? It was all complete bullshit about 'being there' for her before!"

The spiky haired man gulped, he had got him there. "I really don't know…" Silence fell between the pair, "I'm sorry, Matt."

"If you really loved her you'd leave her alone." he said firmly but without menace, "Do I really have to be the one to spell it out for you, Tai? She's got enough going on without you messing things up for her. Sora is not herself anymore and neither are you, it's best if you stayed away from each other from now on and I bet Meiko feels the same way." He sighed, "I've tried to help you save your marriage, Tai, and I've looked out for you despite what you've done. That ends here, understand?"

"Why do I have to pay the price for this every time?!" Tai suddenly yelled out. "You get to go back to your perfect life with Sora and I get nothing!"

"Because I don't believe Sora loves you and I don't believe you really love her either." Matt pointed to Tai. "You're both toxic for each other right now. You need to get a grip!"

Izzy walked over to the pair and put a hand to Matt's shoulder, "Matt. Please, don't leave Sora on her own anymore, I'll walk you home." Matt took a moment, contemplating whether he was finished with Tai yet but he was already being pushed away. He nodded at Izzy and began walking away with him, leaving Tai alone.

The redhead breathed a sigh of relief once they had made some distance away from the park. "You remained calm in the end, I'm glad."

"I didn't go there to fight, I just wanted answers," Matt ran his fingers through his messy hair, "I blame myself for all this you know. I should never have left. I should have quit my job a long time ago, what was I thinking? Sora's not a stay at home mom, she needs to work, and she needs more out of life than this."

"Matt, don't you think you're being a little too forgiving on Sora's part?" He raised an eyebrow, "think about yourself for a second!"

He stopped walking and shoved his hands into his pockets, "Maybe… but unlike Tai I would much prefer to understand the situation and try and fix it then bury my head in the sand. I know why she's unhappy and I think I know what to do."

"And what's that, Matt?"

"Be a stay at home dad, I guess… give Sora some freedom again. She gave up her whole career for our kids." Matt smiled sadly.

Izzy smiled back, "I think I could really learn a thing or two from you about marriage!" The pair chuckled and continued to walk.

Matt stopped again, "Wait, Izzy."

His friend turned and looked back at him, "Yeah?"

"Do you think I'm being a complete idiot?" Matt stared directly at Izzy.

Izzy grimaced, taken off guard by his question, "I really couldn't say but if you're asking me if I know more than you do… I…" he sighed, "I have no idea. I'm sorry."

The blond nodded, "Alright."

"Tonight was a total shock; I thought this was all done with months ago, what the hell happened?" Izzy asked, fuzzy on the details, he was unable to keep up what was being said in Matt and Tai's confrontation.

"Sora bumped into him on her way back home, she text me telling me they were going to catch up," Matt continued, "Next thing I know she's back home and she's a complete mess."

"And that's when you called Tai." Izzy understood now.

"And somewhere in between Tai confessed his feelings for her, stupid idiot." Matt stopped as he got to his apartment building.

"He's moving, you know." Izzy said without hesitation, wondering if this would comfort Matt or not.

Matt raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Moving?"

Izzy nodded his head in the direction of Meiko and Tai's apartment building, which stood behind them, "Seems Meiko gave him an ultimatum, if he wants to stay with her and their son, he has to move to Shimane with them, for good."

"Wow…" Matt ran his hands through his hair, slowly, taking in what Izzy had told him. "That's… terrible. It's understandable of course but…"

"Now that I'm thinking about it, that's probably why Tai did what he did today, tell Sora he loved her, I mean."

Matt groaned loudly, "Oh jeez. Now I feel sorry him!" he clenched his fists, "That idiot is going to be the death of me!"

"Me too!" Izzy's face cracked and he began to laugh. Matt facepalmed, incredulous at himself, he couldn't believe he had empathy for a man who was actively after his wife.

"I don't know if that helps, Matt… He'll be far away soon, out of you and Sora's hair at least." Izzy shrugged.

The blond sighed, "I don't know, man. None of this is good. Anyway, I better go inside."

Izzy nodded and rushed home himself.

Sora's eyes flew open when she heard the front door shut. She got her bearings, realising she was in her bedroom and the baby was in her crib next to her. Sora had sent Joe home, she appreciated the comfort but despite how worried she was, the sleepless nights their baby had brought, Sora went to bed. The door to her bedroom opened and Matt came in, he shut the door behind him. Sora gulped and had no idea where to start. To her surprise he crawled into bed with her and embraced her. He buried his face into her neck. Sora brought her hand to his head to stroke his messy blonde hair, trying to comfort him as she felt his tears wet her collarbone.

Thank you to all that have stuck by to read, I always knew the storyline for this meant it wasn't going to be a popular fic but

ah well! I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it!

Story is still ongoing, though it does have an end, I just keep writing more to fill in between! Apologies!


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